Swire Properties is honoured to receive The Fourth Hong Kong Volunteer Award (Corporate Award) from the Agency for Volunteer Service.
This award recognises outstanding business corporations for its distinguished contributions and accomplishments in promoting volunteering in Hong Kong. The judging panel applauded the Company's Community Ambassador Programme, and in particular praised the programme's work in leveraging volunteers' skills and expertise for its activities.
Guided by the philosophy of "Building Communities", Swire Properties established its Community Ambassador Programme in 2001. The programme seeks to help the elderly, the disabled, children and disadvantaged families in the community.
Led by the employees themselves, the programme is an ever-growing network of employees, their families and friends, business partners, tenants, customers and subsidiary companies of Swire. The Company's employees design and organise all of the programme's activities and contribute their skills, professional expertise and resources to support those in need. Over the past 10 years, the Community Ambassador team has grown from 40 to over 1,000 Ambassadors, who have contributed over 45,000 service hours and participated in over 400 activities to benefit more than 50,000 people in the community.
"The Community Ambassador Programme is a great source of pride for us," said Martin Cubbon, Swire Properties' Chief Executive. "Our Ambassadors have shown an incredible commitment to the community, and I am very proud of them. I am delighted that the Company's support is being acknowledged with this prestigious award, but the real recognition goes to our Ambassadors who have contributed their personal time, energy and creativity to this programme."
The Company supports the Community Ambassador Programme with policies such as flexible work arrangements and special award schemes. To encourage employee participation, the Company recently launched a new service leave policy which offers special day-off arrangements to staff who have contributed certain amount of their leisure time to volunteer service.
The HKYWCA Ming Yue District Elderly Community Centre nominated the Company for The Fourth Hong Kong Volunteer Award. "We are thrilled that Swire Properties has won this award," said Ms Daisy Li , Supervisor, HKYWCA Ming Yue District Elderly Community Centre . "As a partner of the Community Ambassador Programme, we have been impressed by their enthusiasm and devotion. The Ambassadors involved us in every stage of the projects, from discussions and planning to implementation, to ensure that they were designing neighborhood network projects which could respond to elderly people in need."
The Community Ambassador Programme will celebrate its tenth anniversary of community service this year with the Love's Team Charity Bazaar, which will be held on 2 and 3 December in TaiKoo Place, Island East. All proceeds from the event will be donated to support the community development of the five co-organisers - Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong, The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong, SAHK, St. James's Settlement and the WWF-Hong Kong.
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About Swire Properties
Incorporated in 1972, Swire Properties develops and manages commercial, retail, hotel and residential properties, with a particular focus on mixed-use development in prime locations at major mass transportation intersections. The Company's investment portfolio in Hong Kong totals approximately 16.6 million sq ft (over 1.54 million sqm)* of gross floor area, with Island East and Pacific Place as its core holdings. In addition to Hong Kong, the Company has a presence in Mainland China, the United States and the United Kingdom.
In Mainland China, Swire Properties has a portfolio amounting to approximately 12.9 million sq ft (approximately 1.20 million sqm)*, the majority of which is under construction. The five projects consist of mixed-use developments in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shanghai, with Sanlitun Village and The Opposite House hotel in Beijing being the best-known among them.
In 2008, the Company formed Swire Hotels to create and manage intriguing urban hotels in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the United Kingdom, aimed at providing an exceptional experience for travellers who seek individuality, style and personalised service.
The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the publicly-listed Swire Pacific Limited whose businesses are grouped under five operating divisions - property, aviation, beverages, marine services and trading & industrial.
Visit Swire Properties' website at http://www.swireproperties.com
* Gross floor area in respect of 100% of the properties excluding car park areas and not on an attributable basis.
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Swire Properties' representatives, May Lam-Kobayashi, Swire Properties' Head of Public Affairs (second from left), and Bobo Leung, Vice-Chairman of Swire Properties' Community Ambassador Programme (first from left), received The Fourth Hong Kong Volunteer Award (Corporate Award) from Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai (3rd from the left), the event's officiating guest (Third from left), and Lee Jark Pui, Chairman of Agency for Volunteer Service. The nominator of Swire Properties, Silas Poon, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of HKYMCA (second from right), and Daisy Li, Supervisor of HKYWCA Ming Yue District Elderly Community Centre (first from right), also joined them onstage. |