Sustainability Report 2012 • 57
Cook for Love
In September 2011, in partnership with the Social
Welfare Department, we launched our “Cook
for Love”programme, to promote harmonious
relations in single-parent families. This programme
is unique in that it not only involves Towngas
volunteers but also their families. Each individual
“Family Volunteer Team”works with a participant
family on a long-term basis, taking part in cooking
lessons and other activities to create happier
and more harmonious homes. This initiative won
the first runner-up award in their 2011-12 Best
Corporate Volunteer Service Project Competition
by Social Welfare Department.
CookEasy
Our first social enterprise took off in 2008, in
partnership with the TungWah Group of Hospitals.
Creating employment opportunities for people
with disabilities, CookEasy provides a pre-prepared
food pack service based on healthy-diet recipes
designed by our Towngas Cooking Centre. This
initiative won Next Magazine’s CSE Social Service
Award in 2010 as well as the Home Affairs Bureau’s
“Outstanding Friends of Social Enterprise” award in
2011.
Fair Trade Promotion
We not only encourage the use of fair trade
products within the company but also are actively
involved in the Fair Trade Hong Kong Foundation,
serving both as a corporate partner and on its
corporate committee. In 2012, we organised a Fair
Trade cooking class for the Fair Trade supporters.
Salvation Army O! Day
Sponsoring The Salvation Army O! Day, one of
Hong Kong’s largest orienteering competitions
and fundraising events, Towngas joined hands
with the organisation to raise funds for their
community service activities for the disadvantaged
in Hong Kong. Significant and historical Towngas
highlights, such as our heritage gas lamps at
Duddell Street in Central, were also included as
some of the checkpoints in the competition.
Mentoring Programme
In conjunction with the Labour Department and
the Vocational Training Council (VTC) in Hong
Kong, we extend our training initiatives into
the community with on-the-job internship and
mentoring programmes. The personal and working
skills gained help the young trainees to enter the
workplace with greater confidence and ability. A
similar programme on the mainland, our Jingqi
Mentoring Scheme, operates in collaboration
with the Virya Foundation. Under this scheme, our
business managers in Xi’an, Sichuan, Chongqing
and Hunan, provide a one-year mentoring
programme for Virya students.
Social Enterprise Cleaning Services
We use cleaning services provided by social
enterprises in our offices in Hong Kong. Extending
this practice, we also encourage our contractors to
employ disabled employees wherever possible.
