COMMUNITY WORK

Environmental Conservation


Ngong Ping Charity Walk

Ngong Ping Charity Walk is an annual large-scale fundraising event organised by HKYHA to enhance public awareness of environmental protection and heritage conservation, as well as encourage youngsters’ participation in all-round development and cultural exchange. Since its debut in 2007
, it has already come to the 11th year. The charity walk offers routes of different lengths and levels of difficulty: the leisure routes are suitable for families and beginners, while the competition routes challenge participants’ physical fitness and call for team spirit. Learn more. 

 

Green Policies@7 hostels

HKYHA encourages travellers to explore nature and the fun it offers in Hong Kong and abroad. Since a number of our hostels are located in suburb or countryside areas, hostellers can easily take a walk in the countryside while admiring the beautiful scenery and learning about ecology. In addition, to support environmental protection, various green policies have been implemented in our local hostels:

  • Single-use toiletries and towels are not provided – hostellers need to bring their own personal care items.
  • Recycle bins are available
  • Solar panels are installed to heat up the water in hostel areas such as bathrooms, self-catering kitchen and self-service laundry
  • Food waste composting machines are used to break down and transform food waste into useful fertilizers (YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel)
  • Energy-saving light bulbs are used in guest rooms at certain hostels
  • Mosquito nets at suburban/countryside hostels help lower the use of insecticides

 

Cultural Exchange & Education


All-round youth development

To encourage self-help spirit and independence among young people, hostellers are required to make an effort in keeping the hostels clean and tidy by:

  • Collecting their pillow case and duvet cover upon check-in and making their own bed
  • Removing the beddings upon check-out
  • Cleaning up all cooking utensils and cutleries after use
  • Returning facilities back in place after use
  • Helping themselves at the self-service kitchen and laundry
  • Building their own tent (for campers)

We believe that by taking part in these self-care work, the younger generation will be inspired to achieve personal growth and become better persons.

 

Partnering with schools

To involve the community in our work, HKYHA have been joining forces with local primary and secondary schools to offer learning experience through making use of our local hostels as an education platform. Previous school-collaboration learning activities include:

  • “Vibrant HK @YHA Mei Ho House”: involving a total of 90 visual arts students from six secondary schools and 20 volunteers in a hostel staircase-painting project
  • “Ngong Ping Charity Walk”: Every year, YHA staff leads a group of over 70 Community College of City University (CCCU) students from the Associate of Social Science in Public Relations and Advertising (PRA) Programme in planning, promoting and organising the annual fundraising event.
  • “Career Development Summer Internship Programme”: In 2015, YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel partnered with HKIED to involve 4 outstanding undergraduates as interns in helping with administrative work, oral history interview and research about the museum for 6 weeks.

 

YHA Youth Cultural Exchange Tour

To facilitate the cultural exchange between young people in various regions, HKYHA has begun working with counterparts in greater China, namely YHA China and YH Taiwan, to organise cross-strait cultural exchange tours since 2015. The 1st stop was successfully held in Hong Kong in May-Jun 2015 where a group of local university students worked closely with HKYHA staff to organise a 4-day-3-night cultural exchange tour for students from mainland China and Taiwan, enriching their knowledge in Hong Kong local culture and heritage conservation.

 

International Travel Expo (ITE) Hong Kong

To introduce the hostelling culture to the general public, HKYHA takes part in the International Travel Expo (ITE) in Hong Kong every June. We offer information on global YHA hostels as well as self-guided holidays around the world, encouraging travellers to make new friends and learn about local culture through staying in youth hostels.

 

University Roadshows 

Every year in around March to May, HKYHA organises University Roadshows in tertiary institutions across Hong Kong. It is a unique event for HKYHA to arouse students’ awareness towards hostelling and backpacking culture by offering latest travel and hostel information, as well as member benefits around the globe. YHA membership will also be sold at discounted prices during Roadshows.

 

Community Service


Mei Ho House Alumni Network

Mei Ho House Alumni Network has been organising various cultural and educational activities, which are well received by residents of Mei Ho House, Shek Kip Mei Estate and Sham Shui Po as well as individuals interested in the indigenous history, culture and arts of Hong Kong, to maintain community harmony and strengthen the precious neighbourhood bonding similar to former times.

 

YHA Volunteer Group

Founded in 1973, YHA Volunteer Group has developed into a systematic volunteer group with multiple talents. The group works closely with HKYHA to promote the Association’s missions and services. Meetings are held periodically to discuss seasonal activities and other relevant matters. Over the years, various outdoor activities such as water rocket and kongming lantern workshops have been organised to provide opportunities for the public to visit our hostels and experience the fun and beauty of nature.

 

Member Service

From the moment you become a member, HKYHA takes care of all your travel needs. You will enjoy exclusive offers in over 4,000 youth hostels across 90 countries, plus over 2,000 transportation, sightseeing, dining and shopping offers around the world, among which we work with a number of local supplier companies to establish win-win partnerships to benefit both our network members and these local businesses.