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Charity Overview
The Joyful (Mental Health) Foundation (JMHF) is an organisation that promotes awareness of mental health issues in Hong Kong highlighting the misconceptions and discriminations surrounding many of the illnesses. The charity provide a wide scope of services to sufferers and their families which include seminars, mental health courses, exhibitions, professional counselling, support groups and a telephone hotline.
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Project Summary
Funds raised from ICAP Charity Day 2012 in Hong Kong went towards JMHF’s core services for a year; their two telephone hotlines, peer-led support groups and professional counselling services.
ICAP funds have generously supported the very core of JMHF’s services in counselling, peer-led support groups and their two hotlines.
JMHF trains volunteers to answer their support hotline service, which provides essential emotional support and information on referral, treatment and other mental health related resources to callers. In 2013 this service took nearly 3,000 calls. In December 2013 using funds raised from ICAP Charity Day JMHF launched a 24-hour recorded hotline giving callers access to information and where to seek help.
The Foundation’s aim is to raise general public awareness and knowledge about emotional disorders so as to de-stigmatise, minimise misunderstanding and eliminate prejudice about mental and mood disorders.
The donation funded the expansion of JMHF’s professional counselling programme. The JMHF team of 13 counsellors served over 1,400 cases in the past year and the strong demand for their service continues to increase. JMHF regularly holds support groups providing a platform for those affected by mood and anxiety disorders to understand more about mental illness. With ICAP’s funding the number of counselling sessions were increased enabling a greater number of participants to benefit.
JMHF’s peer-volunteers provide vital support groups creating a powerful community where individuals and caregivers can mutually help each other and develop invaluable social support networks. Thanks to ICAP in the past year the Foundation was able to hold a total of four support groups, helping more than 150 participants.
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