Caring Angel and Mental Wellness Activities 2017-18

“Caring Angel”, a new program at HKU SPACE Community College in 2017-18, is organized by Student Development and Counselling Services (SDCS) and run by a group of 40 dedicated students from Community College and International College.  With the aims of promoting mental health awareness of fellow students and fostering a warm and caring atmosphere on campus, Caring Angels strive to promote a positive and empathetic learning environment for students’ mental health, such as developing a culture of self-care, peer support and institutional resources. 

To achieve these goals, Caring Angels have to attend specialized training on mental health first aid, peer-to-peer supportive conversation skills, meditation, team building and program planning.  After that, a series of interactive and meaningful activities which promote students’ mental wellness have been launched on various campuses since October 2017 until April 2018.  Below are some highlights of the activities:

• Meeting and interacting with “therapy dogs” to help students to de-stress from studying;
• Setting up board game, relaxation corner & fun booths around campuses for students to take a break and relax from their busy life;
• Distributing “healthy snacks”, “small plants”, “love cookies” and “encouraging messages” to show support for students;
• Posting inspirational restroom messages and positive quotes around campuses;
• Conducting workshop on making special handcraft, like dream-catcher and sunny doll.

With the collective efforts of the Caring Angels, it turned out to be a great success for more than 1,300 students participated in the mental wellness activities throughout the year.  We believe, when “I” is replaced by “WE”, even illness become wellness!  Let’s join hands to make HKU SPACE become Amazing SPACE!