5 ways to give meaning to your 2018 summer holidays, from food waste to peer support
Whether you want to boost your CV or help people, freely offering your services to the community is one of the best things you can do
Everybody loves a break from school, but that doesn’t have to mean doing absolutely nothing for weeks on end. If you’re the type of person that gets a little restless without an activity or two, don’t worry, YP's got you covered. Here’s a list of volunteer opportunities and summer programmes that are still accepting applicants for this year.
Create a unique community project
If you have a project already in mind, or an issue you want to help solve, join this year’s V-Studio Volunteer Service Training Course. The five-day workshops, organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), teach participants about social issues. Programme leaders will then help you plan and design solutions for your chosen issue. There are still vacancies for two of the three sessions this summer, all conducted in Cantonese. Visit HKYAF for more details.
When: July 23 - August 9
Age Requirement: 14 - 25 years old
Application Deadline: July 8
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Write to fight for social justice
Standing up for your beliefs doesn’t have to be all action. If you’re interested in journalism and you can write Chinese, take a look at the Teen Journalist Training Course run by HKFYG. As part of a four-day workshop, professional journalists will teach you about the value of news and media ethics. You’ll learn to write interview questions and how to conduct interviews, and try video shooting and editing. Visit summer.hkfyg.org.hk for more details.
If your Chinese is shaky at best (and even if it isn’t), join us here at Young Post! Our two-week summer cadet programme is still accepting applications for August. Pitch and write stories for your favourite newspaper, and get the chance to interview celebs, review films, and dig deep into the city’s social issues.
Drop us an email at [email protected], and introduce yourself and tell us why you want to be a cadet.
Change the world by being a part of the world
If you are 17 or older, and you want to get some real-world experience under your belt, apply for the Crossroads Foundation’s 2018 Summer Internship programme. For six weeks, you’ll be one of many interns from more than 20 nations helping connect people to the resources they need – whether that’s translating, accounting, or in administration. Internships are six weeks long, and English-speaking. After you finish the programme, you’ll get a certificate and a reference letter for future jobs, as well as an invitation to a party with your international co-workers. Visit Crossroads for more details.
When: July 10 - August 18
Age Requirement: 17 years old or over
Application Deadline: June 16
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Stop food waste
So much food gets thrown away every day when it could and should be given to those who need it. Local food banks, such as Feeding Hong Kong and Food Angel, are looking for volunteers to do just that. Students 16 and older are needed to help prepare vegetables, food packs, or meal boxes for Food Angel. If you’re older than 18, you can work in the warehouse or as a delivery assistant for Feeding Hong Kong.
Younger than 16, but still want to help? Feeding Hong Kong is looking for people to help out with their Bread Run. They need to collect bread that will otherwise be thrown away, and bring them to the collection points. Visit Food Angel and Feeding Hong Kong for more details.
Offer your peers a helping hand
Sometimes, when life gets you down, all you need is a helping hand to get back on top of things again.
Be that helping hand for someone this summer, by giving some of your free time to the Kely Support Group, an organisation that offers support, education, and life skills to Hongkongers aged 14-24. Right now, the group is looking for social media content creators, as well as translators proficient in both Chinese and English.
Visit Kely Support Group for more details.
Edited by Ginny Wong