Speaker Session: The Salvation Army — Purpose after retirement
In this speaker session, we welcomed Mr. Matthew Yau and Ms Sandy Wong, social workers from the Salvation Army to talk about the Salvation Army’s work in Fostering Young Old Leadership: unlocking potential and advancing contribution in cultural heritage and beyond.
The Salvation Army is an international church and charity that operates in 134 countries and territories. It has been operating in Hong Kong since 1930, with the commitment of transforming lives, caring for the community and spreading the word of Christ, they currently operate over 80 social services units, 35 schools, 2 education centres, 17 churches, 1 outpost and 16 stores across Hong Kong and Macau.
About the Project
Mr Matthew Yau and Ms. Sandy Wong’s work mainly serves the younger cohort of the elderly in Hong Kong. Their project aims to view seniors aged 55-75, also known as “young seniors” as social resources rather than merely beneficiaries of services. In Hong Kong, about one-fifth of the population is aged 55 or above, and this group possesses rich experiences and expertise that can be significant assets to society. The goal of the project is to cultivate these individuals into community leaders, enabling them to realize their potential and continue contributing to society, and to give them a sense of purpose.
Why “Young Seniors”?
The project targets “young seniors” because they are generally healthy and active, living independently and freshly retired. This means that these “young seniors” are motivated by the opportunity to participate in society in a meaningful and impactful way. Also the fact that the current cohort of 55-75 year olds in Hong Kong,were the ones who witnessed Hong Kong’s economic boom, meaning they usually possess higher education levels, a multitude of professional experiences and invaluable insights.
About the City Walk Guiding Program
One of the programs that was set up under the project is the CityWalk Guiding Program. The program trains seniors to become community guides, sharing community stories and personal experiences.
Partnering with the Urban Renewal Authority (URA),tThe City Walk guiding program was initially launched in the Central Market in 2023. It has since expanded to other areas in Central and Sheung Wan in 2024, and has trained over 91 docents, and has attracted over 120 seniors to participate. The program has offered over 60 guided tours in Hong Kong, with over 600 individuals participants joining tours given by the “young seniors”, and has attracted over 2000 individuals to sign up for tours. The program has been so successful that it has received multiple awards over the years, including being a finalist for Innovation of the Year in the category of Active Ageing - Health & Wellbeing Program at the 13th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards 2025, and the Hong Kong Top 10 Outstanding Community Service Award 2025. It has been found that over 60% of the local “young-senior” docents who participated are willing to receive a further 30 hours of additional training to become licensed local tour guides. In the future, the program will replicate the model in other districts and communities across Hong Kong, in fact it is projected that in 2026 the program will expand to Kowloon City.
Funding and Costs
A major question when it comes to social projects is how are the programs funded. In the case of the City Walk program, the funding and resources comes from the Salvation Army internally as well as cooperation with the Hong Kong government ( the URA specifically) and the Hong Kong Central Market. The funding from these three channels goes in to advertising and marketing, events that celebrate the achievements of the docents, training and much more.
The project demonstrates how to transform the experiences and expertise of seniors into community resources, creating a mutually beneficial model that enriches seniors' lives post-retirement while also bringing warmth and humanity to the community.
