London Hong Kong Welcome Programme
Supported by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, The London Hong Kong Welcome Programme enables Hong Kong Londoners to feel a part of London’s social and cultural fabric. The programme has been built from a strong evidence base, with the commissioning of research that surveyed Hongkongers and ran focus groups to understand their needs and priorities.
This programme also echoes with the Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy commitment which extends to supporting Hong Kong British National Overseas (BN(O)) status holders to be able to live, work and study in the UK and to feel fully part of the British society.
Year 1 achievements
Through the Local Welcome Hong Kong Fund, over £200,000 was allocated to seven key Local Authorities in the capital:
- The London Borough of Hackney
- The London Borough of Haringey
- The London Borough of Kingston
- The London Borough of Richmond
- The London Borough of Sutton
- The London Borough of Tower Hamlets
- The London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Funding allocated was used to build internal capacity in the Local Authorities to support the BN(O)s in their respective areas.
Funded activities included delivering information sessions and orientation workshops, translating key documents and materials into Traditional Cantonese, organising events to celebrate the Hong Kong diaspora, running weekly advice sessions to BNOs in their community, providing information English classes to assist Hongkongers to integrate into their new communities, and many more.
This funding programme was developed to support Hong Kong-led groups and organisations that work to support the integration of BN(O)s into their new communities in London.
Through this programme, two groups were granted microgrants of up to £1000 and ten groups were granted with small grants of up to £10,000.
The following groups and organisations are some of those who have been granted this funding:
- Welcoming Hongkongers H.O.M.E. Project
- Kingston BEATS
- Project TEMP
- Hong Kong Aid
- UK Welcomes Refugees
- Hearth Talk.
Funded activities aim to promote a sense of welcoming for new arrivals, increase Hongkongers’ confidence to navigate their new communities and environment, and enable Hongkongers to access and thrive in employment, skills and training. This grant programme also seeks to build the capacity of newly formed Hong Kong-led groups.
The Migrant Londoners Hub is an online platform with tailored information for Hongkongers and resources to support all new arrivals to the city to navigate access to housing, healthcare, work, benefits, education and travel.
As part of the resources offered by the Hub, The Mayor of London’s map of services for migrants, refugees, and newly arrived communities was launched in December 2022. This interactive map displays services and organisations across London that provide free services to migrants, refugees and newly arrived communities.
Mental health support was identified as a key priority for new arrivals and a key pillar of fostering the integration of Hong Kong BN(O)s, who must navigate existing trauma from developments in Hong Kong with the experience of moving to a new country and starting a new life.
As part of the GLA’s Hong Kong Integration Programme, we commissioned Thrive LDN to develop a set of culturally aware and trauma-informed resources to support the mental health and well-being of Hongkongers settling in London.
These resources offer guidance and support on the well-being of children, young people, and adults from Hong Kong; guidance on accessing urgent mental health support; and support to professionals working with the Hong Kong Community.
This sits alongside a training scheme co-developed with Hongkongers to support frontline services to take a trauma-informed and culturally specific approach to supporting Hongkongers, targeted at schools, healthcare workers and the Met Police. These course materials will be available online for others to access beyond the project.
Year 2 activities
The Local Welcome Hong Kong Fund reopened for applications in January 2023. The fund aims to build local capacity to support the welcome and integration of new arrivals from Hong Kong.
Grants of up to £30,000 are available to Local Authorities to support the delivery of work that contributes towards the welcome and integration of new arrivals from Hong Kong.
This funding will prioritise boroughs with the largest estimated population of new arrivals from Hong Kong, as well as boroughs that include areas of significant cultural importance to Hongkongers. However, the funding is open to all local authorities in London to apply.
The Hong Kong Community Fund is targeted at non-established, newly established, or smaller grassroot groups or organisations run by and/or for Hongkongers and their partners.
Whilst Hong Kong-led groups and organisations will be prioritised, we also welcome applications from other organisations, particularly those who are experienced working on one of the intersectional needs identified below.
Organisations and groups should be able to identify activities that will have a positive impact on the lives of new arrivals from Hong Kong during the project timeline, and test ideas of activities that can contribute to their welcome and integration in London.
There are two types of grants available:
- Development grants of between £1,000 and £10,000
- Impact grants of between £10,000 and £20,000.
Applications are accepted from 22 February 2023 and the deadline is 27 March 2023 (9am).
Find out more about the programme prospectus and application process.
The Greater London Authority (GLA) has commissioned two experienced researchers, Jo Pettitt and Natasha Tsangarides to conduct research on the needs and experiences of young Hongkongers in London.
The aim of this research is to improve understanding of the needs and challenges faced by younger Hongkongers who settle in London. This is particularly relevant given the recent expansion of the BN(O) Visa scheme to applicants born on or after 1997 who have at least one BN(O) parent.
In order to meet the needs and improve the experiences of future new arrivals of young Hongkongers to London, we would like to understand young people’s needs and experiences who have recently migrated to the city.
This will help the Greater London Authority develop possible interventions to support the welcome and social integration of these new arrivals. It is intended that this work will help inform policies and strategies to support active citizenship and positive experiences in London of younger Hongkongers.
If you have any questions about this research, please feel free to get in touch with [email protected].
The GLA has established the Higher Education (HE) Hong Kong Welcome Fund, aiming to build capacity in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reach out to, engage with and support young Hongkongers living and learning in London. This funding programme was established following the expansion of the BN(O)s visa scheme, where more younger Hong Kong BN(O) status holders are expected to arrive in the UK.
The funding programme is now closed.
Year 3 activities
Applications for the Hong Kong Empowerment Fund are now open.
In our third year supporting the London voluntary and community sector, we are happy to launch the Hong Kong Empowerment Fund. The Fund is established to support Hong Kong Civil Society in London to deliver integration support to the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) community.
The Hong Kong Empowerment Fund targets equity-led non-established or newly established groups and organisations run by and/or for Hongkongers. Whilst Hong Kong-led groups and organisations will be prioritised, we also welcome applications from other organisations, particularly those who are experienced working on one of or more of the programme’s aims.
There are two types of grants available:
- Growth grants: up to £15,000 – open to non-established and newly established groups or organisations run by and/or for Hongkongers and their partners.
- Collaboration grants: up to £50,000 – open to two or more non-established, newly established and/or smaller grassroot groups and organisations working in collaboration and partnership. A lead partner must be identified in the application, and this must be a legally constituted group.
We particularly welcome applications from community-led projects.
Applications are open from Tuesday 27 February 2024 and close on Wednesday 27 March 2024 at 9am.
You can also visit Groundwork London’s website to find out more about the Hong Kong Empowerment Fund.
Priorities in London
Given that funding granted through this programme needs to be committed by July 2023, we are keen to see bids that take this into account and seek to build a long-term legacy from the funding.
We see this as being about building and embedding partnership working, establishing capacity to provide support for Hongkongers, and growing specialisms that takes into account the specific needs of Hongkongers.
- We encourage organisations to work in partnership, building connections between new/small organisations and larger more established organisations to provide opportunities for mutual development for the benefit of Hongkongers. We expect all bidders to be able to demonstrate how they are engaging with other partners including, where appropriate, their local authority
- We encourage bidders to consider the long-term legacy of the work that they are proposing, beyond the initial funding period, to help build specialism and capacity to support Hongkongers. This could include training or the creation of resources that can be used to support others to understand the particular needs of Hongkongers
- We encourage creative bids, testing and piloting interventions to support the social integration of new arrivals, that could expand in future years subject to funding or embed in existing services.
Through our continued engagement with the community, we prioritise supporting organisations that deliver work in the following areas:
- Orientation and access to services – to support Hongkongers in accessing public services, ensure information is provided in an accessible manner, and help them understand their rights and entitlements in the UK
- Hongkongers with intersectional needs – to offer service to children and young Hongkongers, older Hongkongers, LGBTQI+ Hongkongers and Hongkongers with disabilities
- Mental health and wellbeing – to increase the capacity of mental health services to provide trauma-informed and Cantonese speaking services for Hongkongers
- Loneliness and social isolation – to build connections within Hong Kong communities and across different communities
- Immigration and social welfare advice – to increase capacity of the immigration and social welfare advice sector, so Hongkongers can access qualified services advice, and thus reduce their risks of destitution, particular in the current context of the cost-of-living crisis
- Business and employment – to seek solutions to break down barriers Hongkongers experience in accessing economic opportunities in London
- Learning and improving English language skills – to provide tailored informal English language learning and support Hongkongers accessing formal learning opportunities.
Our top priority is ensuring the safety of Hongkongers and all bidders should be able to demonstrate how they will ensure their services will be accessible, friendly and safe spaces for Hongkongers.
- We particularly welcome bids from organisations that are led by Hongkongers and bids that include the lived experience of Hongkongers in their work plans
- Bids will need to be able to demonstrate an understanding of the unique migratory context of Hongkongers.
We prioritise supporting boroughs in London with the largest estimated population of newly arrived Hongkongers, namely those in Southeast London, including Greenwich, Bromley; Southwest London, including Kingston, Sutton; and Northwest London, including Barnet, Ealing; as well as those that include areas of significant cultural importance to Hongkongers.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
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