(Falcon Program, August 2021)
The Variety Falcon Program is designed to help young people aged 16 to 21 dream big, and develop the soft skills they need to make those dreams a reality.
Exacerbated by the challenges of Covid-19 and economic downturn, youth unemployment in Hong Kong is a significant issue for the city. While it is devastating for all those without work, it disproportionately affects society’s most disadvantaged young people the hardest, both financially and emotionally.
This situation is making the wealth gap – already one of the widest in the world – significantly worse with a poverty rate of nearly 20%.
Hampered by educational and societal challenges, young adults about to enter the world of work are likely to encounter significant difficulties in finding productive employment. Even if they do, they will likely suffer significant earnings losses that may take years to make up.
That’s why, in the Summer of 2019, we launched the Variety Falcon Program, designed to help young people aged 18 to 20 dream big, and develop the soft skills they need to make these dreams a reality.
The Variety Falcon Program provides 2 years of in-depth personal and career development support with mentoring at its core. There are 5 key objectives:
To support and guide Falcon participants on their career journey by providing mentoring with trained experienced mentors who are matched to the needs of the mentee.
To increase the employability of Falcon participants at the start of their careers by providing a structured curriculum of skills and personal development and wellbeing training.
To raise the aspirations of Falcon participants and increase their awareness of career options by providing access to potential employers, career fairs and industry talks.
To increase the self-confidence of Falcon participants and practically apply their skills by providing access to internships, leadership training, volunteering opportunities and teamworking activities.
To develop the relationship management and networking capabilities of Falcon participants by providing opportunities for them to interact with employers, mentors and each other.
I have learnt to persist, to give back to society and to adopt a positive attitude towards things and people. I have become more positive about HK. I used to believe that my academic results are not good enough for me to become a doctor / lawyer and so I would be useless. This has helped me understand there are many more pathways and possibilities. Now I know that when I work hard, and with my interests in mind, I could do well.
Our target is to support at least 250 participants by 2025 and give them a path into employment, education or training.
Our first cohort was launched in Oct 2020 supporting 26 Falcon mentees, and 25 Young Falcons joined them in June 2021.
90% of those participating in the pilot leadership training felt that they had become more confident to tackle challenges in the future.
We are expanding our work in this important area so we can support many more young adults, including a further cohort of 25 young people to join the Falcon Program in October 2021 with 25 professional mentors supporting them for 2 years.
We plan to continue our work with schools to engage more Young Falcons in 2022.
In summer 2021 we launched our Young Falcons initiative working with 3 local secondary schools.
The Young Falcon program is a 1-year taster program for Secondary Form 4 – Form 5 students, during which members take part in soft skill development and career exploration activities. Upon successful completion, they can apply for the full Falcon Program.
Several visits have been organised this summer for the Young Falcons to facilitate their understanding of different commercial sectors in Hong Kong, and to enable them to experience various workplaces in person.
(Falcon Program, August 2021)
(Falcon Program, July 2021)
(Falcon Program, June 2021)
(Falcon Program, June 2021)
(Falcon Program, October 2020)
(Falcon Program, July 2020)
(Falcon Program, August 2019)
Variety – the Children’s Charity Hong Kong
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Variety – the Children’s Charity Hong Kong Limited is a tax-exempt charity in Hong Kong (Reference 91/14278). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
