The
Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent Fund
Lighthouse Clubs around the world have as a primary
objective the promotion of camaraderie between persons involved in or related
to the construction industry. From
this primary objective there generally flows a second but equally important
benefit, that of benevolence to the local construction society.
The benevolence provided can and does vary from country to
country, depending upon the needs of the local society together with cultural
acceptability of the intended form of benevolence.
In Hong Kong the
Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund provides direct financial first aid to those
applicants that qualify. In Thailand,
their Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund assists in the provision, funding and
operation of schools for the children of construction workers. In the Philippines,
their Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund assists with the education of children
who wish to study a trade or profession related to construction.
The use of the word “their” is deliberate. It is up to each individual Lighthouse Club
to organise themselves and decide and control what form “their” benevolence
should take.
Hong Kong Branch’s Benevolent Fund
In Hong Kong “our”
benevolence is provided through The Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent
Fund, which is managed by 5 Trustees under a Deed of Trust registered with
the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department as a non-taxable entity. The Trustees
are assisted in their duties by a Benevolent Committee made up of a number of
members of the Committee of the Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Branch. Although a
benevolent fund commenced operation shortly after the formation of the
Lighthouse Club Hong Kong branch in 1986, the Trust was formally registered
with the IRD in January 1990 and is funded by donations from the Lighthouse
Club Hong Kong, corporates and individuals. The donations come from financial surpluses
on Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Branch events, such as dinners, seminars,
get-togethers, auctions, collections etc; donations from individuals and
corporations, the latter sometimes as tied donations. One of the earliest fundraisers for The
Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent Fund was a sponsored parachute jump
involving leading lights of Hong Kong’s
construction industry at that time. People paid good money to see these
individuals throw themselves, or be pushed, out of an airplane. The mists of
time do not allow us to determine if there were contingent donations payable
in the event of the demise or injury of any of the jumpers!
Which
cases are accepted?
The authority of the Trustees to provide benevolence from
The Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent Fund is set out in the Deed of Trust
and can be summarised as being that the Trustees can only consider an
application for financial assistance where a need for assistance arising from
illness, injury or death can be established from an individual, or the direct
family of an individual, who has worked in Hong Kong’s construction industry.
There is no requirement for the applicant or his/her family to have been a
member of the Lighthouse Club and in most instances beneficiaries have never
had any prior relationship with the Club. The Trustees do not discriminate
applicants on the grounds of race, religion or political belief and
beneficiaries have included citizens from Nepal,
China and elsewhere, in
addition to Hong Kong.
Payments
Since its foundation The
Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent Fund has supported several hundred cases
and disbursed in excess of Eight (8) million Hong Kong
dollars. These payments can be made in
a number of different ways:
One off Payment:
a one off payment, frequently to assist with the cost of funeral expenses.
Currently this amount may be as much as HK$40,000.00
Monthly Pension:
a regular monthly payment to contribute as a partial (but not complete)
replacement for loss of salary income.
Currently this amount is fixed at HK$3,500 per month with an
additional HK$500 for each child aged under 16 or in
full time education.
Lai See Payment:
At Chinese New Year every child in an assisted family will receive a Lai See
from the Benevolent Fund.
Efficiency
Everyone involved in the Benevolent Fund, from the
Trustees, through the Benevolent Committee, to the case officers and the
Honorary Auditors (currently Messrs KPMG) give their time freely, without
compensation and pay their own expenses. This means that 100% of all
donations received is available to provide assistance to cases. The Benevolent Fund has no overheads with
the exception of occasional bank charges, where these are not waived.
Why is there a need?
You may wonder why is there a need in Hong
Kong for the Benevolent Fund? The answer to such a question is never
simple or short, but amongst other reasons there can be a delay of many
months and frequently years between the date of an accident and the receipt
of insurance compensation. During this
period, an individual or family may have no income. Sometimes the
individual’s employer has not effected Employees’
Compensation Insurance or for some other reason the individual is not covered
by Employees’ Compensation Insurance.
As a charity, any payment made by the Benevolent Fund to
an individual or family does not prejudice any subsequent legal rights or
breach the terms of any Employees’ Compensation Insurance policy, which can
be helpful for both the individual or family being assisted and any employer
in any tier.
During the period 2005 – 2010 the number
of cases that are being assisted by the Benevolent Fund have dropped
significantly due to the reduced work load in Hong Kong’s
construction industry. With the Hong Kong Government’s stimulus of the
economy through its 10 mega projects infrastructure initiative, it is
possible that post 2010 the number of cases assisted per month may sadly
exceed the 30 – 40 per month assisted during the 1990’s infrastructure boom.
How can I help?
There are many ways in which you can help the Benevolent
Fund, as an individual and/or as a corporation. Such ways include:
·
Join or renew your membership or encourage someone else to join
The Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Branch
Your or their modest membership subscription, either individual or corporate
helps to generate a surplus that can be donated by the Lighthouse Club Hong
Kong Branch to the Benevolent Fund.
·
Support
a Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Branch event
By attending an event you help to generate a
surplus, by buying a luck draw ticket you provide funding directly to the
Benevolent Fund, by acting as a sponsor for an event or donating a prize you
assist in raising funds.
·
Direct
individual donation
By directly donating to the Benevolent Fund as an
individual you directly assist a case and enable the Benevolent Fund to
assist more cases. Your donation will be receipted and subject to the IRD
rules will be tax deductible.
·
Direct
corporate donation
By directly donating to the Benevolent Fund as a
corporation you can make either a general or tied donation. In the case of
the later, the corporation can specify that funds from its donation should
only be released in respect of accidents on a project(s) designated by the
corporation.
·
Organise
an Event
Organise an event yourself for the benefit of the Benevolent Fund. Should you
require assistance or guidance in this regard, please contact any member of
the Committee of the Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Branch.
·
Report
a Potential Case
Should you become aware of a case that might be eligible for support by the
Benevolent Fund, please contact any member of the Committee of the Lighthouse
Club Hong Kong Branch and bring the case to their attention.
Your support, however large or small, of the Lighthouse
Club Hong Kong Branch and/or the Benevolent Fund allows you to put something
back into the local construction industry from which you derive your
livelihood.
Contact Details
The Lighthouse Club Hong Kong Benevolent Fund
c/o Battersby Kingsfield
Ltd
Suite 1901-2, 19th Floor,
Hopewell Centre,
183 Queen's Road East,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Email lighthousehkg@yahoo.com
Tel: +852 2736 9885
If you know of an individual, or a family, who would
benefit from the assistance of the Benevolent Fund, please contact any member
of the Benevolent Committee
Philco Wong (Chairman)
Cordia Yu (Deputy Chairman)
Barry
Adcock
Peter
Berry
Carmen Liu
Steve Tennant
Thank You.