Bishop Ho Ming Wah Chinese Community Centre
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| T'ai Chi sessions at the Ho Ming Wah, © David Lindsay |
St Martin's long tradition of enriching people's lives by making them feel part of a larger, welcoming community is evident in its work with the Bishop Ho Ming Wah Community Centre.
In May 1964, Bishop R O Hall of Hong Kong asked a social worker and priest, Revd S Y Lee, to work with Chinese people working and living around Soho. 'S Y' was welcomed by St Martin's and a small congregation of 12 who gathered on that first Sunday for a service in Cantonese has now grown into a thriving Chinese-speaking congregation which is very much part of the St Martin's community. The Ho Ming Wah opened in 1987, in one of the Victorian vaults, to meet the increasing social support needs of this population. This formalised and extended the social care already being offered. The centre now welcomes over 150 people each week.
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| The Ho Ming Wah lunch club, © David Lindsay |
Members are mostly elderly people who do not have the network of extended family that they would traditionally have expected. The community is now spread around London, but it is still important that the Ho Ming Wah is so centrally located, as well as being so close to Chinatown. Recently, the Ho Ming Wah has also welcomed increasing numbers of students from mainland China, looking for support and a reminder of home.
Activities on offer include:
- Weekly social lunch club
- Tai-chi classes
- Cultural activities such as Chinese dance and singing sessions
- Health advice sessions
- English and Mandarin language classes
- Translation services
- Computer classes
- Exchange visits with other Chinese community centres
- Volunteer befriending project for members who can no longer travel to the centre
The Ho Ming Wah has also begun to offering cultural activities in Cantonese during school holidays for British-born Chinese children, whose families are keen to see the younger generation reconnect with their heritage.
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| Members of the Ho Ming Wah attend an English lesson, © David Lindsay | Illustration of the offices and communal spaces of the new Bishop Ho Ming Wah Chinese Community Centre, Lucinda Rogers |
Transforming The Bishop Ho Ming Wah Centre
As part of the Renewal Project, the Ho Ming Wah will occupy part of the new underground spaces, with a large activity room, offices and its own kitchen. The glass-walled main space will face onto the new light-well. There will also be easy access to additional facilities, such as the new parish hall, to support some of the more popular activities.
The new centre will also be fully accessible - an important consideration for many of the elderly members - and will be more visibly a part of the St Martin's community.
New spaces will also allow the development of proposed new services, such as a professional advisory service and a youth employment project.
Links
Chinese Congregation, St. Martin-in-the-Fields » (Chinese Language page)
