The Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF) Forum 2016 – Mutual Trust • Mutual Help • Interaction
Theme of the Forum
Mutual Trust. Mutual Help. Interaction.
Social capital refers to the institutions, relationships and norms. There are six core dimensions under social capital, namely, social networks, trust and solidarity, mutual-help and reciprocity, social cohesion and inclusion, social participation, as well as information and communication. Over the years, studies have proved that social capital is essential for the economic prosperity and long-term sustainable development of a society, and that communities with rich social capital are more caring too.
Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF) has been actively collaborating with different sectors in the community, and created a variety of effective social capital development models, with the house captain strategy as one of the flagship models. Among the 323 CIIF-funded projects, 65 of them have been implemented under the house captain strategy. At present, there are about 6,000 house captains serving 55 housing estates, providing care and help to their neighbours. Building on this, this year’s Forum is themed “Mutual Trust. Mutual Help. Interaction.” Distinguished guest speakers from different sectors have been invited to lead thought-provoking discussions on how the house captain strategy can maximise mutual help and trust in the community. The Forum will also stimulate all participants to ponder and exchange ideas on how cross-sectoral collaboration enables social capital building in their respective fields.
“Lend a Hand in Community” Day – A society filled with care!
House captains may look like ordinary neighbours in the housing estate, but they have been entrusted with an extraordinary task - they are the ‘communicator’ of the floor. They go all around in order to take care of the needs of every resident in the building and serve as a ‘communicator’ with a view to maintaining close ties among neighbours and creating a mutual help network in the community. Whenever the need arises, house captains can solicit help even from neighbours or professionals, fostering the spirit of neighbourhood support and mutual help.
The ten project teams which have implemented the house captain strategy also participated in the “Lend a Hand in Community” event today to demonstrate how they helped forge “Mutual Trust. Mutual Help. Interaction.” among their neighbourhoods. They have organised a number of diversified interactive activities in the housing estates they serve to promote mutual understanding and support among the residents and to build social capital.
Mutual help not only takes place today. Looking forward, we hope all of us are willing to take the initiative to care for each other every day and join together to build a strong mutual help network!
