annual report 2015 - reach.org.sg · pdf filesia siew kien human resource rodney chang lai mun...

Annual Report 2015

Forging Ahead

Vision

Touching Hearts,

Reaching Lives

Mission

Rekindling Hope

Enhancing Social and

Emotional Well-being

Assisting Personal Growth

Caring for the Hurting

Helping the Needy

Contents

9 REACH Family Service Centre 24 REACH Counselling 31 REACH Youth

46 REACH Senior

49 Financial Report 2015

2 Management Committee

3 President’s Message 4 Chief Executive’s Message

5 REACH Corporate Engagement

Management Committee

2 REACH Community Services Society Annual Report 2015

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

PRESIDENTSia Siew Kien

VICE PRESIDENTThomas Ow Yong

HONORARY SECRETARYRodney Chang Lai Mun

HONORARY TREASURERChan Hock Hui

COMMITTEE MEMBERSCham Lee FinSandy LowEunice NgJimmy YapPatrick LiewClement Chung

SUB-COMMITTEE

AUDITClement ChungCham Lee Fin

APPOINTMENT AND NOMINATIONTay Teng PongLee Kah Hock

FUNDRAISINGPatrick LiewSandy LowSia Siew Kien

HUMAN RESOURCERodney Chang Lai MunEunice NgBilly Supardi

PROGRAMMES AND SERVICESClement ChungSia Siew KienSin Lye Kuen

From left to right:Sandy Low, Cham Lee Fin, Sia Siew Kien, Thomas Ow Yong, Eunice Ng, Chan Hock Hui, Jimmy Yap, Rodney Chang

Not in picture:Clement Chung

President’s Message

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2015 was a year of celebration and reflection. We came together as a nation to celebrate 50 years of independence and achievements. It was also a time the nation reflects upon the direction going forward for SG100. For us at RCSS, we also have much to celebrate, to reflect upon, and to be thankful for.

CelebrateWe celebrate your giving. Riding on the momentum of the SG50 Care and Share initiative, the tremendous support and generous giving of our donors during the period from December 2013 to December 2015, has helped us to obtain the full $2.25 million matching grant pledged by the government. We have also been privileged to be selected again as one of the recipient for the President’s Challenge 2015. In addition, we have managed to develop new capability in fundraising. For the first time ever, we successfully organized our Charity Golf and Dinner event at Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) last year and raised $345,000 for our beneficiaries.

We also celebrate new opportunities to grow our presence. The new REACH Counselling Center at Shunfu was officially opened on April 11, 2015. REACH Youth now extends beyond Bishan and also operates the new Youth Powerhouse at Block 417 Bukit Batok West Avenue 4 (Hong Kah North). Similarly, we also dive into senior work to cope with the increasingly needs in our fast ageing society. REACH Senior began it services in October 2015 at Block 26B Jalan Membina. These additional touchpoints have allowed us to extend our reach further.

ReflectWith our four community touchpoints up and running, RCSS is now in a stronger position to serve the less privileged among us. Our REACH Family Service Centre (RFSC) continues to work hard to renew hope and faith for the needy families through various assistance programs. With the full embrace of the rigorous Code of Social Work Practice (CSWP) launched by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), we now have stronger professional competency to help the needy families to develop greater resilience in coping with their difficult issues.

Our REACH Counselling Centre responds to the increasing need for pre-marital, marital, and extra-marital work in society, and will continue to grow its expertise in this area. It has also been able to work with others like the Syariah Court and MSF to address such needs.

Our REACH Youth (RY) targets youth-at-risk and youth transiting out from an institutionalized setting, to help them reintegrate back to their families and the society. Through the various active programs that are geared towards youth development and leadership building, it hopes to excite these young people to activate their strength to reach their potential.

Our REACH Senior (RS) focuses on underserved seniors living in purchased flats, especially for those who are lonely and slightly immobile. This caters to a segment of elderly for whom existing helps tend to overlook as their focus is mostly on the rental blocks. Our goal is to promote active ageing and to meet the wellness needs of these seniors.

In addition, we also run a unique REACH Bursary Programme where bursaries are presented to needy children with poor academic results. Unlike most bursary awards which require their beneficiary to fulfill some criteria of good academic results, we select needy students who are struggling academically. To help our beneficiaries grow holistically, the programme comprises of a financial award, academic support and mentoring sessions to inculcate good values as well as coaching throughout the academic year.

GratitudePart of the work by RCSS is government-funded, while the other parts are not. We take courage that we can continue to serve the community and contribute to the social service sector because of the strong support of our government, donors, volunteers and community, as well as corporate partners. We are also appreciative of our dedicated staff who have often gone beyond their call of duty to avail themselves so readily to help their beneficiaries. Together with the Management Committee of RCSS, we would like to express our deep gratitude for your support and dedication. You have allowed RCSS to forge ahead confidently to serve the needs of the least, the lost and the lonely. THANK YOU!

Sia Siew KienPresident

3Forging Ahead

Chief Executive’s Message


Ho Siew CheongChief Executive

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S MESSAGE

The purpose of RCSS is to serve the community, and to reach out to the least, the lost and the lonely. Bigger buildings and more money cannot in themselves change lives. Quality time and quality services ministering to the needy by competent social workers and counsellors can. In the furore of infrastructure building in 2015, it is still crystal clear that our goal is to provide better and needed services to our clients.

2015 was a busy year. Our Counselling Centre at Shunfu was completed in December 2014, and officially opened on April 11, 2015 by Mr Hri Kumar. Our Youth Centre at Bukit Batok West Avenue 4 was completed in January 2015, and officially opened in August 2015 by Dr Amy Khor. Our Senior Centre at Jalan Membina was completed in September 2015. In November 2015, we embarked on a 5-month cyclical maintenance to rejuvenate our 17-year old Family Service Centre at Bishan. In between all these, we carried out 2 significant fundraising projects - Operation Broken Wing in September partnering with Innervate Crossfit, and our inaugural REACH Charity Golf and Dinner in October partnering Gammon Construction.

We are filled with immense gratitude to God who provided the opportunities and the resources to make it all possible. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our staff and management for labouring tirelessly, learning and inventing as we go along, keeping faith that although we have never quite come this way before, we will put our hands together to the plough, and will move the mountains together.

Much appreciation too, to our advisors, grassroots leaders, corporate partners, donors, volunteers and community stakeholders for their unwavering support and encouragement. 2015 was indeed a very good year indeed.

We all yearn to be the birds that soar into the skies. Yet all birds start somewhere, and must first learn to walk before they can learn to fly. So it was for RCSS.

For the longer part of our history, RCSS has been serving the community from one location. Now with operations out of four touchpoints around Singapore, constraints in space that once

limited our service span and depth are now removed. We believe now more than ever before, we are empowered and better able to, take community service up another level.

In 2016 and the immediate future, we want to grow our impact in the youth sector. On the at-risk youth’s front, we are focusing at reintegration of institutionalized youths back into the community. On the other hand, we will also be building a new track along youth development. Many mainstream youths growing up have little in their minds to do, except to do well in their studies, start and build a good career, settle down and enjoy the fruits of their success.

But what makes a good development path greater is the ability to also influence a successful young leader to acquire a broader and multi-dimensional perspective of what he or she can give back to the community, to be agent of change, to lead and help their peers in need out of their difficult situations, and in the process build a more compassionate society and a better tomorrow.

Another area of focus is to build capacity for the Senior service both at Jalan Membina and Bukit Batok. Apart from daily senior activity work, we need to progressively upstream into befriending, community support and other forms of intervention. As the senior population grows, the issue and challenges around seniors are becoming more amplified. This call for us to build stronger competence and depth and expand our range of services.

In Family Service, with the full deployment of the Code of Social Work Practice in the Family Service stabilised, the focus is to strive for flawless sustainment and top of class performance in our casework, case management and to increase efficiency and effectiveness of our work processes. As the staff count grows to tackle the growing needs in the geography, the operating budget for the Society will rise in the next few years. To sustain operations, a more robust and efficient fundraising process is needed to help raise funds to cover funding shortfalls.

Forging ahead, it is the wind beneath the wings that holds up the bird soaring in the sky. RCSS can only grow and take on bigger challenges if she continues to enjoy the support of the community, her donors and volunteers. RCSS seeks the goodwill of all, and more of it as we forge ahead.

REACH

Corporate

Engagement

Corporate Partnership


2015 has been an eventful year for REACH Community Services Society as we saw the official opening of two new centres, namely REACH Counselling Centre at 307 Shunfu Road and REACH Powerhouse at 417 Bukit Batok West Avenue 4.

This was made possible because of the relentless support and contribution from our stakeholders, partners and donors. Their contributions have helped to broaden our services so that we can reach out to even more vulnerable, lost and lonely lives.

We are thankful for the Care & Share @ SG50 Movement in 2015. It was heartening to see more corporate partners, individual donors and volunteers stepping forward to give their treasure, time and talent to help build a better tomorrow for the lives of our beneficiaries. In 2015, we received $1.4 million donation and $0.8 million Care & Share matching grant.

Htwo Education Holdings - Amar Kidz

We believe that is it important to inculcate the spirit of giving in the young, regardless of family background.

26 & 27 March – A total of 55 children aged four to six years old, together with their parents, visited our REACH Family Service Centre at Bishan, to learn about community work and how they could contribute to help the needy. For food distribution, the Amar Kidz families contributed toiletries, stationery and canned food, which benefitted 16 beneficiary families. 15 needy children received the best toys from the children of Amar Kidz.

Hewlett Packard Singapore

18 June – A group of 27 volunteers from HP Singapore had a ball of a time playing soccer with 17 youths from our youth outreach arm - REACH Youth.

Provimi Singapore Pte Ltd – Green Day

Helping our 25 children and youths discover the importance of recycling through games and activities.

24 June – Provimi Singapore Pte Ltd organised a day of adventure into the world of terrarium-making for our beneficiaries. 9 parents also stepped forward to join in the fun and enjoyed the good bonding time with their children!

A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS, KEY PARTNERS,

DONORS and VOLUNTEERSfor their unwavering and steadfast

support. Thank you for believing in what we do here at RCSS!

ACI SingaporeArdent Associates LLP

Cargill International Trading Pte LtdCredit Bureau (Singapore) Pte LtdCommunity Development Councils

Gammon Construction Pte LtdHewlett Packard Singapore

Home Favourite Pte LtdInnervate Crossfit

Informatics Education LtdPeople’s AssociationProvimi Singapore

SportCares FoundationSembCorp Industries Ltd

Shangri-La Hotel of SingaporeViewQwest Singapore Pte Ltd, and more!


7Forging Ahead

Sembcorp Industries Ltd – “Give Back Day”

Over 200 needy families received a food package from Sembcorp on their Give Back Day, in conjunction with their 20th anniversary celebration on 12 August.

12 August - 100 volunteers from Sembcorp worked in great team spirit as they packed, delivered and visited over 200 families who greatly appreciated their kind gesture.

SportCares Foundation

REACH Waterdragons Programme is supported by SportCares for the second year running. More at-risk youths were engaged in dragon boating as part of intervention engagement for character development and promoting healthy lifestyle and physical fitness.

Informatics Education Ltd - IT Education

Life Skill Education empowers our beneficiaries and opens up more employment opportunities.

From 4 September 2015 – Informatics Education conducted a series of IT Basic training over 3 months for our 15 beneficiaries to help them become employable.

Operation Broken Wing (OBW) 2015

Participant giving all he has at the Crossfit fundraising workout!

19 September 2015 – It is our 2nd run with OBW, a programme that aims to raise funds to support REACH Youth’s programmes.A total of 190 participants from 11 Crossfit boxes signed up to workout for a good cause at SCAPE. Every repetition translates into an amount to be contributed by the participants’ sponsors. We wish to thank Innervate Crossfit, their athletes and everyone who had participated in the workout for raising a total of $100,000 through this event!

Beneficiary:

“It has been a challenging journey for me to attend the Excel course as I need to take care of my children. I persevered to complete the course

and now I am able to use the new skill at my work and help in my family

budget.”

“I have learnt a new skill - Excel that will help me to get a better job with a

better income for my family.”

“I was afraid to touch the computer as I did not know how to. But the Excel course has helped me to overcome

this fear and I can apply this new skill on my job.”


Gammon-REACH Charity Golf & Dinner 2015

v v

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Social and Family Development, graced the event as the Guest of Honour.

28 October 2015 – RCSS held its inaugural charity golf & dinner fund-raising event at Singapore Island Country Club.Over 350 guests including golfers, partners and stakeholders were present to support the event. A total of $390,000 was raised through the auction of Mr Tan Chuan-Jin’s three dazzling photograph prints, two sets of SG50 Jubilee Platters, apart from the sale of golf flights and dinner tables. A group of beneficiaries performed at the event in appreciation of the donors’ and partners’ support as one of event highlights.

On behalf of our beneficiaries, we want to extend our sincere appreciation to the following key partners and sponsors, donors and others who wanted to remain anonymous, who made this event a success.

• Gammon Construction• OKH Loyang Pte Ltd• Tai Sin Electric Cables Manufacturer Pte Ltd• Lee Foundation• GM Employment• Tote Board

Applauding Our Volunteers and Donors

Our Best Dressed volunteer for our ‘Come As You Were’ RCSS Appreciation Event

28 November – Our Annual RCSS Appreciation Event aims to affirm and recognise the contributions of our donors and volunteers that have made an impact on our beneficiaries. 84 donors, volunteers and CSR partners were present at the event.

In 2015, over 300 Volunteers made a difference in the lives of 500 children, families, youths and the elderly that we serve.

Ardent Associates LLP - National Orchid Garden Outing 2015

Outing with our seniors at the National Orchids Garden.

A team of 42 Ardent staff organised activities and an outing for 39 of our seniors at the National Orchids Garden on 4 December. The entire staff team was also involved in our official opening of youth centre and carnival.

REACH BURSARY AWARD AND MENTORING PROGRAMME 2016We want to appreciate Grace Assembly of God Singapore, Credit Bureau (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Joshua Research Consultants Pte Ltd for their contribution to our REACH Bursary Award and Mentoring Programme. They have been supportive towards this programme for years.

The contributions will be expended in 2016 to conduct academic support and mentoring programmes for our beneficiaries.


REACH Family Service Centre - Forging Ahead to Renew Hope and Faith


Alicia LamCentre HeadREACH Family Service Centre

2015 was a special year for REACH Family Service Centre (FSC). In celebration of SG50, we have actively participated in the plethora of celebratory events. 2015 was also when the communities within our service boundaries have been blessed. It is indeed a year of many thanksgiving and celebrations for the progress of our nation.

Riding on the SG50 celebrations, REACH FSC’s outreach team and our beneficiaries have participated in many events to foster stronger relationships within the community. One of the highlights is an event organised by Singapore Management University that put REACH FSC in the Singapore Book of Records.

2015 was also a year of intensive preparation and transition to new processes based on the Code of Social Work Practice (CSWP), together with the launch of Social Service Net (SSNet), a national case management and information system for social service. We welcome, embrace and support the FSC sector-wide initiatives from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). The entire FSC staff team was trained to gain knowledge and skills in CSWP and the use of SSNet. The team has worked hard to carry out the rigorous processes, which enable us to conduct thorough assessments that translate to effective interventions.

REACH FSC’s array of groupwork continues to grow in quality and participation. Our signature Programme Esperanza, which focuses on providing Primary and Secondary school children from low-income and multi-stressed families, is a platform for both academic and character building. In 2015, REACH FSC had decided to engage professional tutors together with the volunteers in the community to guide both Primary and Secondary school students in Mathematics and English. Such efforts have brought forth many results which instilled confidence in both parents and children. It is heartening to hear many

testimonies shared at our bursary events on how such efforts had brought them closer as a family.

Our Blooms of Hope women group continues to see strong participation. Besides conducting basic beginner floristry skills, we have also conducted advanced classes on bouquet arrangements to refine the BOH women’s existing skills and knowledge in floristry. English lessons and group work were also conducted to supplement the women’s needs to improve their communication and interpersonal skills that will help them in the marketplace.

In Tanglin Regional Family Violence Work Group (FVWG), REACH FSC has assumed leadership to the Tanglin Regional FVWG. On 29 August 2015, together with other service providers, we organised the ‘Unveil the Queen in You’ workshop to honour and appreciate women who have dedicated their lives to their families. The rest of the community effort such as the Home Improvement Programme and Financial Literacy workshop were also a continuous effort to bring hope and faith to the families that we serve.

Last but not least, we’re thankful for the success of our HOPE Mentoring Programme. With our excellent track records, MSF have renewed their contract with us to expand our reach to more territories which include the western region of Singapore. Such expansion will mean an 80% increase in the number of families who will benefit from this programme.

Fortified with our achievements in 2015, we ask ourselves what the next lap is for REACH FSC. Like our national leaders’ vision of our nation until we celebrate our SG100, we aim to remain relevant in our practice and we are confident to forge ahead to renew hope and faith for the communities we serve with REACH FSC’s hallmark of Sharing Love, Inspiring Hope.


11Forging Ahead

OverviewREACH Family Service Centre (FSC) is committed to uphold and maintain closer bonds with our residents and stakeholders through outreach activities. Apart from deepening existing community engagement and collaboration, we are continuously seeking new platforms to bring help closer to our community. Besides the usual needs assessment exercises, in 2015, we had also done a community walk and mapping to chart the community asset and fostered a closer relationship with the market vendors. We will continue in our efforts to bring hope within reach to each and every individual within the community under our service boundary.

Roadshows18 January 2015 – REACH FSC was invited to set up a booth at the annual Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC CCCs Bursary Awards Presentation Ceremony. More than 1,000 residents and their families visited our FSC booth that day!

11 July 2015 – As part of SG50 celebrations, REACH FSC was invited by Bishan East Zone 1 to set up a booth at Blk 510 Bishan St 13 Amphitheatre on 11 July 2015.

REACH FSC Team at Bishan Toa-Payoh GRC Bursary Event

Needs Assessment at Blk 187 Bishan East• Conducted from May to June 2015. • Covered a total of 76 units• 53% households responded to the outreach service.

Door-to-door needs assessment at Blk 187

Stakeholders MeetingREACH FSC believes in working closely with our community stakeholders from:

• Held bimonthly meetings to discuss high risk cases in Bishan and Sin Ming. • 17 complex cases were discussed and assisted in 2015.

Stakeholders Chinese New Year Lunch 2015

“It has been a great collaboration between our agencies. Your caseworkers had been prompt upon activation and the trust between REACH FSC and the [COMNET] SAC has been wonderful. Looking forward to more good years ahead.”

- Mr David Goh TS (Senior Centre Coordinator, AMKFSC COMNET SAC)

Agency of Integrated Care

Bishan Neighbourhood Police Centre

Bishan North Community Centre

COMNET Senior Services

Housing Development Board

Institute of Mental Health

National Healthcare Group

Social Service Office (Toa Payoh)



"Thank you REACH FSC for the social service support to residents at Bishan North MPS. We look forward to REACH's continual support in the new year and beyond."

-Mr Lai Kah Seng, an MPS volunteer

Marketplace Outreach

• Marketplace Outreach at Bishan Street 11

• Noted several medical services like TCM medical halls and clinics that can cater to the needs of the elderly residents

• 11 vendors agreeable to help share information about our FSC services with their customers

Engaging the vendors during market outreach

Weekly Outreach at Meet- the- People Session (Bishan North)

• Involved in 34 Meet-the-People Sessions

• 34 on-site new referrals

• Residents benefitted from immediate assistance

• Strong partnership and dialogue between Grassroots Leaders and REACH FSC

Weekly outreach at Meet-the-People Session (Bishan North)


13Forging Ahead

Community Walk and Festive Season's Outreach

• Community Walk to map community assets and interact with the residents and stakeholders in the community

• Organized festive season’s outreach activities to celebrate Chinese New Year, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas

Community Walk on 26 May 2015

Distributing mandarin oranges for CNY 2015

Distributing roses to each family for Mother’s Day & Father’s Day

The distribution of paper lanterns for Mid-Autumn Festival 2015

Christmas Outreach 2015



SCHOOL HOLIDAY & COMMUNITY EVENTSMany families and children benefitted from a fun-filled year, participating in workshops, carnivals and even getting into the Singapore Book of Records!

14 June 2015 – Inline Skating with Fix and Roll• Roller blading trainer Andy from Fix and Roll give back to community• Organized an introductory roller blading session at Bishan Community Club for beneficiaries

Beneficiaries overcame their fear and learnt how to skate on roller blades

15 June 2015 – EVA Hello Kitty Star Jet Launch with Mrs Josephine Teo• Special invitation by Mrs Josephine Teo for our beneficiaries• To attend the launch of the EVA Hello Kitty Shining Star Jet • Our beneficiaries were presented with exclusive Hello Kitty collectibles

Mrs Josephine Teo chatting with the beneficiaries at the launch

15 – 16 June 2015 – Camp Explore with Central Singapore CDC• 2-day camp called Camp Explore during the school holidays • Covered five aspects of education, in Moral, Cognition, Physical, Social and Aesthetics • Beneficiaries applied what they learnt creatively through a video production, which was aired during the closing ceremony

Beneficiaries displaying their musical talents and were presented with an ukulele each by Central Singapore CDC.

11 July 2015 – SG50 Façade Art Competition with Bishan East Zone 1 RC• Participants of Programme Esperanza (PE) and the volunteer mentors participated• Organised by Bishan East Zone 1 • Received the Top 10 recognition in the SG50 Façade Art Awards 2015

PE participants and volunteer mentors completing the artwork of our National Anthem as part of the SG50 Façade Art Competition.

1 August 2015 – Let’s Carnival @ Bishan! – A President’s Challenge EventSome of the activities held at Adam Road Presbyterian Church for this event are:

• Singapore Heritage Games – Game stations• “Why I Love Singapore” – Community Art Competition• National Day Celebratory concert and Sing-a-long session• Singapore Food Trail


15Forging Ahead

After the presentation of the SG50 Commemorative Bouquet to President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife, Mrs Mary Tan

7 August 2015 – Community Chest Heartstrings Walk 2015• Beneficiaries walked to the rhythm of the drums• Held at Marina Bay Sands

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean having a moment with our beneficiaries

18 September 2015 – Formula 1 - Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2015• Beneficiaries toured the Support Race Paddock. • Sumptuous dinner provided at one of the hospitality suites located at the F1 Building• Watched a F1 practice session close up

Beneficiaries getting up close and personal with a race driver and his car at the Support Race Paddock

13 October 2015 – L.E.A.D. Project by Nanyang Polytechnic• Participants of Programme Esperanza learnt about the people, progress and patriotism in Singapore history, through a field trip• Led by student volunteers from Nanyang Polytechnic• They walked from Maxwell Road to Chinatown • The beneficiaries interacted with stall holders at the Kreta Ayer Market, practising their communication skills

Volunteers from Nanyang Polytechnic sharing information at the Singapore City Gallery.

12 December 2015 – Just 1 Act 2015 with Singapore Management University (SMU)• Our beneficiaries promoted the theme of ‘Happiness’ with SMU Caretalyst Team,• At Gardens by the Bay• Created a Singapore Record with the highest number of sweet wrappers to form a logo

A new Singapore record: The children proudly displaying their work of art.


Casework & Counselling OverviewREACH FSC’s committed team of professional social workers and counsellors provides Information and Referral, as well as Casework and Counselling services to help individuals and families who live in Bishan, Sin Ming, Shunfu and Thomson. Our clients from all walks of life come with a wide range of concerns. Through empathic engagement and careful assessment, we strive to empower them to navigate through and cope with their difficulties.

2015 was a year of intensive preparation and transition to new processes based on the Code of Social Work Practice (CSWP), together with the roll out of Social Service Net (SSNet), a national case management and information system for social service. Both CSWP and SSNet are FSC sector-wide initiatives from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). The entire FSC staff team actively participated in training to gain knowledge and skills in CSWP and the use of SSNet. In preparation for transiting to SSNet, all client data was painstakingly migrated in phases from the Electronic Case Management System into SSNet. CSWP processes have been gradually implemented from October onwards. The team has worked hard to carry out the rigorous processes, which enable us to conduct thorough assessments that translate to effective interventions.

Information and Referral (I&R)Our Information & Referral Service responds to individuals and families who approach the FSC through phone, walk-in, email or referral from other agencies as well as through our extensive

outreach efforts. We provide relevant information, follow-up through casework and counselling at the FSC, or link them to resources and relevant community agencies.

With the implementation of CSWP, the process of Intake has been introduced to establish whether the concerns of individuals and families who approach the FSC can be matched by the services of FSC. In addition, an initial risk assessment for family violence, suicide and harm to others is conducted during the intake interview, to facilitate early detection of risks and prompt follow-up to ensure safety.

In 2015, • 1,938 enquiries were attended to• 1,588 enquiries received relevant information• 350 enquirieswere followed up with FSC’s casework and counselling services. • Out of the 350 cases, • 62% received professional casework and counselling help • 33% received one-time consultation • 1% referred to other social service agencies for further assistance • 1% declined help • 3% were uncontactable

Casework & Counselling REACH FSC attended to a total of 608 clients who required Casework and Counselling services:

The total number of cases handled was in line with MSF’s directive in the implementation of the new framework. Hence a higher proportion of cases were closed in 2015 (61%; 370 out of 608) as compared to 2014 (51%; 401 out of 793). This was necessary to enable FSC staff to transit to the more rigorous work processes, which require more time invested per case to conduct comprehensive assessments to help cases with increasing complexity. Of note, we handled an increased number of complex cases which involved family conflict, family and partner violence, as well as mental health issues, as compared to 2014.

Presenting Problems of New Cases3 Highest Presenting Problems


1,938INFORMATION

AND REFERRAL ENQUIRIES

1,588GENERAL

INFORMATIONPROVIDED

350CASEWORK ANDCOUNSELLING

INTAKES

Number of cases in Jan

Number of new cases

Number of closed cases

Number of cases at Dec

Total number of cases handled

2015

392

216

370

238

608

2014

487

306

401

392

793

62 (29%)

FinancialIssues

(31% in 2014)22 (10%)

Family Conflict(8% in 2014)

22 (10%)

Marital Issues(12% in 2014)


17Forging Ahead

Profile of New Cases

Gender

Ethnicity

Marital Status

Closed Cases Staff DevelopmentTraining and supervision are key elements of staff development in REACH FSC, as the FSC staff team aims to provide high quality service to our clients.

Some of the key training and development in 2015:

Family Violence Mandated Counselling ProgrammeThe programme, staffed by Our trained Family Violence Counsellors helped clients resolve violent behaviour and adopt alternative ways to cope with anger.

2015 (% total cases)

2014 (% total cases)Presenting Issue

Family Violence Partner Violence

Mental Health

Parenting / Child Management

Housing / Shelter

Interpersonal

Elderly

Employment / Career

Youth

Gambling

Others

Married

Single

Divorced

Widowed

Separated

114

44

36

15

7

9

9

9

7

6

5

1

1

1

4

5

5

9

7

5

5

4

3

1

5

53%

20%

17%

7%

3%

Male87 (40%)

Chinese151 (70%)

Malay24 (11%)

Indian31 (14%)

Others10 (5%)

Female129 (60%)

Case closure analysis

Number of closed cases

Clients achieved goals

Uncontactable clients

Comparison over prior year

Down 31 cases

Up 13%

Down 8%

2015

370

84%

6%

2014

401

71%

14%

99%Client achieved improved ability to manage on his or her own. (Among 136 closed cases involving financial issues)

98% Client achieved enhanced problem-solving/coping skills

95% Client achieved relationship/network that improve their situation

370ClosedCases

84% Client achieved set goals

6% Client is uncontactable6% Client withdraw from programme

3% Others1% Client is referred to another FSC

Period

January to May

June to August

From November

Training information

Case management and group supervision – in preparation of CSWP

7-day Onboarding course – certified as users of Family and Adult Support Tool (FAST) – a CSWP assessment tool

Align FSC team to CSWP processes and improve supervision skills of FSC senior social workers

Trainer

In house trainers

Social Service Institute

Master Social Worker deployed by MSF

Total cases handled

Referrals from MSF

2015

78

45

2014

76

42



Family Support Programmes

Home Improvement Programme (HIP)The aim of HIP is to improve the living conditions of low-income families. It also empowers these families as they participated in the decision-making and worked together with the volunteers to bring about change in their lives, beginning with their physical environment. • partnered with 30 students and 4 teachers from the Raffles Leadership Institute • make a difference to the lives of 6 low income families

Mr Ong with the student volunteers and his new feature wall

Food RationsCargill Food Cares was conducted in partnership with Cargill Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Limited, Cargill employees volunteered on a monthly basis to help in the packing and distribution of food rations to needy families whose children are recipients of School Pocket Money Fund (SPMF). 45 families benefited from these rations.

Staff of Cargill coming together to pack the food rations.

Silver Food Rations project was brought together by members of Grace Assembly of God Singapore. Led by cell group leader Mr. Michael Lai, committed members contributed on a monthly basis in the packing and distribution of food rations to elderly or immobile clients living within the Bishan, Sin Ming, Shunfu and Thomson estates. To date, 221 packets of rations have been distributed.

Silver Food Rations in motion

Tanglin Regional Family Violence Work Group (FVWG)Since May 2014, REACH FSC has assumed leadership to the Tanglin Regional FVWG. On 29 August 2015, the FVWG organised ‘Unveil the Queen in You 2’ workshop.

This workshop:• Honour and appreciate women who have dedicated their lives to their families • Promote awareness of family violence, and empower women to handle such situations• Closed door event attended by 28 women, 9 teenagers and 34 children• Outdoor awareness event attended by 400 members of the public• ‘Good Touch Bad Touch’ storytelling booth where 80% of the children were able to answer questions on appropriate touches correctly

Children trying out ‘Spin the Wheel’ game on family violence.

“I am very pleased with the students’ help in cleaning up my house and organising my living quarters. They have even painted this beautiful picture on my wall and it makes me happy looking at it. I am very happy with their help!”

- Mr Ong (not his real name), a beneficiary of the Home Improvement Programme


19Forging Ahead

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

The following are some of the financial assistance for the low-income families administered by REACH FSC.

1) The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund:

2) Discretionary Fund

3) ComCare Fund

4) Food Rations

5) Families receives groceries donated by Cargill Food Cares - 45

Faith That Brings Hope

James, aged 59, had approached REACH FSC for financial assistance as he was unable to work due to his severe hearing impairment in both of his ears. His condition did not improve even after he underwent a cochlea implant surgery on his left ear surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Subsequently, they provided him with a hearing assisted device but it became faulty. His hearing difficulty had prevented him from seeking employment to support his family. He waited for about a year for funding from the hospital to have his hearing aid replaced.

James is married with a 17-year-old daughter who is in Secondary 5. His wife, 44, is the sole breadwinner and works as a factory operator earning about $1,000 a month. She works long hours to earn additional income to support the family and pay for their household bills. They had accumulated huge arrears with HDB for their housing loan as they are unable to service the loan regularly. They were also having difficulty providing for their daughter’s physical and educational needs.

James and his wife were highly stressed over their financial situation. James was also depressed about his medical condition and his inability to work and provide for his family’s needs. They were

supported with counselling and financial assistance to overcome their difficulties. We helped them through our FSC Discretionary and Comcare Funds, School Pocket Money Fund (SPMF) and food rations. Several referrals were made to link client with external agencies such as Bishan Community Club, Singapore Association for the Deaf, SG Enable Services, employment agencies and Tamil Methodist Church to receive additional support.

James gradually progressed from being helpless and hopeless to a man who is able to accept his limitations and make adjustments to his expectations. He gained emotional stability and is more rational in his thinking. He developed good problem-solving and decision-making skills. His resilience and courageous response to adversities and setbacks eventually helped him to secure a job as a cleaner and he is now gainfully employed. With a dual income, James and his family are now financially stable and self-sufficient. His daughter performed exceptionally well in school with our support and progressed to complete her ‘O’ Level examinations. She is looking forward to qualify for a course of her choice in a polytechnic. Both of her parents are very proud of her achievements.

34 Primary School Students

28 Secondary School Students

9 Post Secondary School Students

76 families received grocery NTUC vouchers

85 families received Cash disbursements

30 families received grocery NTUC vouchers

58 families received Cash disbursements

221Total sets of food rations distributed forElderly/Immobile Clients



Programme Esperanza – Children Support Group

Programme Esperanza focuses on providing primary and secondary school children from low income and multi-stressed families a platform for well-rounded development, not only academically but also in character and self. Professional tutors were engaged to teach Mathematics and English.• 30 Primary and 7 Secondary school students • Each academic session lasts 2 hours, on every Wednesday evening • On Saturday mornings, volunteer mentors from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Hwa Chong Junior College, Nanyang Girls High School, and Raffles Junior College, conduct character building and mentoring sessions on topics such as Self Worth, Social Skills, Perseverance, Working Together in Sportsmanship and more • Most of the children achieved an overall improvement in their examination results, an increase in self-esteem and a heightened sense of responsibility

Children being taught by professional tutors

Children with volunteer mentors, participating in basic First Aid skills session

Programme Esperanza – Parents Support Group

• Eight sessions held on the fourth Saturday of each month• Sessions included talks, hands-on activities and group sharing• Topics covered included: Anger Management, Cyber Wellness/Computer Addictions, Positive Parenting and Child Development, Communicating with your child

Parents intensely engaged in a Psychological Trauma and attachment session conducted by Mr Parandaman. T., C. Physhology MBPsS (Leicester).

“Every mentoring session brings me immense joy and purpose as we witness

the mentees growing, learning and improving through sheer hard work and heart work. As a mentor, I was forced to

think out of the box to engage the mentees while instilling in them

long-term values that will carry them through their lives. The genuine smiles of

the mentees make my mentoring experience a truly heartwarming and

memorable one.”

- Toh Si Ying, Volunteer Mentor

“My 2 sons have improved in their studies. In fact, they have scored well for their Math exams. I am also able to see a

positive change in their behaviour.”

- Mdm Lim Lay Pheng, parent

“The parenting talk conducted at REACH Family Service Centre not only helped me in relating with my daughter, I also

had the opportunity to meet other parents and become very good friends

with them.”

- Mdm Wu Jun Mei, Parent


21Forging Ahead

BLOOMS OF HOPE

2015 saw continued strong participation from the women group. The programme seek to equip the women with an employable skill and deepen their competency.• A 10-week floristry beginner class conducted for newcomers • A 10-week advanced class on bouquet arrangements was formed to refine their existing skills and knowledge in floristry• English lessons conducted to increase the language proficiency • A 6-week groupwork component to work on their communication and interpersonal skills

English lessons for the ladies by our volunteer teacher.

A seasoned beneficiary helping a newcomer with her arrangement.

Financial Literacy Programme

This programme aims to educate families on managing their finances to cope with the various scenarios they face in their lives.• 1 day of experiential learning conducted by Institute of Financial Literacy• 42 low-income beneficiaries attended• Topics covered included budgeting, CPF schemes, basics of managing finances• Certificate of participation awarded to each attendee

The instructor reviewing the day’s activities.

“This year, I’ve not only learnt floristry techniques, but also learnt how to

communicate and get along with friends of different cultures. Through Blooms of Hope, I’ve learnt 3 things – we must be conscientious in what we do to achieve our dreams; learning floristry has given me a useful skill for my future; and the kindness of REACH and the volunteers have taught me that life has so much

more meaning than just ourselves. REACH is one big happy family

comprising different personalities. As long as we are accepting of one another, we will be able to form good, peaceful

friendships.”

– Wang Zixuan

“I enjoyed this programme as I’ve learnt how to differentiate between a need and want, and not to buy things on impulse.”

– Ou Juan Hua, participant



HOPE Scheme

The Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) scheme offers a comprehensive range of benefits to young low-income families and their children to help them break out of the poverty cycle.

REACH FSC provides mentoring for families who are on the scheme and residing in the Central Singapore Precinct.

HOPE Mentoring

It is definitely heartening to know how HOPE clients have benefited from their last mentoring session. They were motivated in taking necessary steps and were resilient to stay through the course to make positive changes in their lives for their families. As they reflected and related the difference in quality of lives during periods working in lowly paid menial jobs, to taking up courses for enhancement of employability and now gaining financial stability, it is truly our privilege to hear of such remarkable progress.

The satisfaction percentages report we received from MSF:

With the consistently good ratings we received on HOPE mentoring, we were given a new contract to expand our reach to other regions in Singapore where more than 700 new families will benefit from this scheme.

HOPE Groupwork

Beneficiaries received their certification from their basic IT course

Quality parent-child bonding at Gardens By The Bay

201586%

201482%


23Forging Ahead

A creative arts workshop where parents and their children can connect

PowerWord Kidz • Since April 2014, REACH FSC started PowerWord Kidz, which is a combination of KidsREAD (a National Library Board’s initiative to promote the love for reading and cultivate good reading habits among children aged four to eight years old from low-income families) and an academic support component. Volunteers helped to run this programme• 15 children regular attendees (40% increase from 2014)• Held on alternate Saturdays for two hours. • In November, Amar Kidz Pte Ltd organised a storytelling workshop conducted by Ms Khurshid, an experienced teacher. The children were taught how to narrate and dramatise the story of “The Giving Tree”.

“Delphine is now able to speak English in school and her teacher commented that she speaks very well.” - Mdm Wu Jun Mei, parent

“My teacher was amazed that I have made improvements in my English tests.”

- Messi Chee, participant

4 Indoor group activities

1. Positive Communication • Parents encouraged to express in a positive and affirming way to their children. • Techniques of positive communication, avoiding negative communication and communicating during conflicts

2. Creative Art Workshop • Parents and children came as a family to do painting and artwork; facilitated by the Art Therapist • Parents were encouraged to use Art as a medium in familial relationship building at home

3. Technology & Family Workshop • Helped parents to understand the impacts and risks in the internet age. • Techniques and tips to manage the children’s internet usage and improve their attention span

4. IT Beginner Course • Introduce Basic IT knowledge training to the HOPE ladies to enhance employability. • Modules on Microsoft Word; Powerpoint; 3D Modeling & Animation • Cultivate lifelong learning attitude

3 Outdoor group activities for family bonding

• Gardens by the Bay (2 sessions)

• Sentosa

REACH Counselling – Forging Ahead to Build Trust and Celebrate Love

25Forging Ahead

REACH Counselling Centre’s quiet move to the Shunfu community in late 2014 was given prominent publicity and fanfare at its official opening on 11 April 2015. There was much celebration, joy and a sense of satisfaction and achievement as staff marked the auspicious event with 200 guests, well-wishers, stakeholders and residents.

Birthing a dream of a counselling centre with limited, or even nil funding source is nothing short of simply having sheer grit, belief and courage in the cause. The team and Ng Ai Ling, then Clinical Director, must be credited for this brave initiative.

Forging AheadNow that the Centre is physically in place, it’s time to forge ahead in finding answers to important, almost critical concerns:

1. Core message and services of REACH Counselling Centre As the entire social service landscape gets inundated with the Code of Social Work Practice (CSWP) in an effort to professionalize the sector and to maximize limited resource usage, it is also time for counselling to find its distinctiveness and differentiation from social work. More so, for REACH Counselling Centre – the 6th counselling centre in Singapore. This hopefully will settle funding concerns to some extent.

When REACH Counselling started in 2009, it was to respond to the increased need of marital work and to address marriage as a rising concern in society. This was borne out when 70% of clients’ presenting problem regards marriage – pre-marital, marital and extra-marital problem from 2009-2015, albeit an 8% reduction in this category in 2015. It seems we are meeting a specific specialized need, a growing concern – mandating REACH Counselling to grow this area of expertise in the entire social service landscape.

2. Specialised expertise and competenceMarital counselling requires a high level of skills and competence. Clinical supervision and support is a must to enable counsellors to cope and feel ‘reasonably good’ about their counselling work and outcome. Besides, counsellors also need life experience, maturity

and containment of difficult emotions and self-management, including self-care. Organisational support and structure in training and development can go a long way to ensure that counsellors are adequate for the onerous and important task of marriage counselling.

3. Funding and stakeholders RC would like to thank MSF for extending its funds for one more year from April 2015 to March 2016. This provided the necessary financial support and lifeline to carry on the counselling service. To stay relevant in the changing social service landscape, REACH Counselling has reached out to many FSCs, networked with government groups like Syariah Court (SYC), MSF, SAF Counselling Centre to look at possibility of increasing funded programmes as well as ensuring that we still have a role in complementing the massive change in the sector. We are glad to be able to get on board the SYC Mandatory Counselling Programme and Triple P Programme of MSF. A portion of REACH counselling’s resources may have to be allocated to managing funded programmes in future.

Mission reinforced What is ahead as REACH Counselling sets foot in the community and has a space to call our own? This definitely has to be articulated and answered from deep within the recesses of our hearts and minds; more so as social work becomes entrenched and synonymous with FSCs, the biggest player in the social service landscape and as MSF moves vast resources to support the professionalizing of social service in FSCs via CSWP and introduction of the Social Service Net (SSNet) in service provision. It is indeed a challenge and lone voice to believe in the cause of counselling. Like previous year, I would reiterate REACH Counselling Centre’s tagline: ‘Celebrate Love, Embrace Growth.’ Counselling is not just problem resolution and remedial in nature but one that is growth-promoting and fulfils our greatest human potential: ‘Wholeness – Who we are. What we can be.’ Let us be courageous and choose to not take the easy route and short-change ourselves; something we may cave in to in busy, fast-paced Singapore.

Goh-Chang Song EngCentre HeadREACH CounsellingCentre



Information & Consultation (I & C)A 17% increase (237 vs 202) in I & C was seen in 2015. What was interesting is the slight drop of 8% in marital cases coming to the centre. 62% of enquiries were regarding marital problem (includes pre & extra-marital issues) as compared with 70% in 2014. A 10% increase was seen in the family and interpersonal relationship consulted at RC. This includes parenting issues as well.

COUNSELLING

Presenting problems

The financial year of 2015 saw an increase of new cases (180) that is 18% higher than the previous year. However, the total sessions in 2015 were lower by 25% as compared to 2014. A few factors contributed to the lower number of sessions such as clients reaching their goals in fewer sessions; clients needed advice or information that only required one session.

An average of 3.6 sessions was clocked per client, as compared with 4.2 sessions in 2014. This may be explained by the mandatory Syariah Court cases referred for divorce as their average usage is 2.8 sessions per case.

Marital relationship (46%) is the most commonly presented problem, followed by extra-marital affair (11%), interpersonal relationship (11%) and pre-marital counselling (9%). The seeming dip in extra-marital affair may be explained by clients ticking off several issues on the intake form as a result of the extra-marital affair that was the main issue. Hence, consistently again, as with the last three years, marital issue (includes pre & extra-marital issues) still rank as the top most problem seen at the Centre.

46% Marital Relationships

11% Extramarital Relationships

11% InterpersonalRelationships

9% Pre-marital Counselling

Outcome of Intake

Opened as a new case

Information given

External referral

Client is not contactable

Total

2015 2014

180

35

2

20

237

76%

15%

1%

8%

100%

152

22

4

24

202

Counselling

Cases as at start

New cases

Closed cases

Cases as at end

Cases handled in the year

Total sessions

2015

57

180

128

109

237

876

2014

120

152

215

57

272

1161

Presenting Problems

Pre-marital relationship

Marital relationship

Extra-marital affair

Interpersonal relationship

Family / parenting issues

Stress, anxiety, depression or anger

Psychosocial-emotional or relational difficulties/ personal growth

Total

Total Registered

17

83

20

19

14

12

15

180

9%

46%

11%

12%

8%

7%

8%

100%

Presenting Problems

Pre-marital relationship

Marital relationship

Extra-marital affair

Family / parenting issue

Interpersonal issues

Stress, anxiety, depression or anger

Psychosocial-emotional or relational difficulties/ personal growth

Total

2015 2014

23

103

22

29

21

18

21

237

10%

43%

9%

12%

9%

8%

9%

100%

15%

27%

28%

9%

2%

9%

10%

100%


14 27Forging Ahead

Outcome

Client ProfileGender Race

Marital Status

Age

Qualification

Monthly Household Income

As with past years, client profile remained very much the same – predominantly of Chinese descent (79%), female (61%), in the 20-40 age group (87%, with 39% in 30s age range), having a degree/ post graduate qualification (55%) and having a monthly household income of under $5000 (38%). 43% earn $5000 and above.

The similarity across these three years say a lot about service provision for REACH Counselling – outreach methods should remain via internet, media and personal contact (top three sources). Privacy and confidentiality of service is priority while the educated lot would have higher expectation of a competent and effective counselling service to be rendered at a counselling centre.

Closure Reasons

Client achieves set goals

Client withdraws from counselling

Client is uncontactable

Others

Total

2015

82

13

10

23

128

64%

10%

8%

18%

100%

2014

64%

21%

5%

10%

100%

61%Female

39%Male

79%Chinese

7%Indian

8%Malay

6%Others

1%Widowed

2%Separated

1%Divorced

64%Married

33%Single

3%Below 20

26%20s

39%30s

22%40s

6%50s

3%60s

1%Others

55%Degree/

Post-Grad14%

Diploma7%

ITE/NITEC

21%GCE

A/O/N level

3%PSLE/

pre-PSLE

19%<$2000

38%$2000 -$4999

23%$5000 - $10000

20%>$10000



18 Years and Beyond – Michael & Sarah (not couple’s real names)

Just like any marriage, it all started with lots of passion, intimacy and eventually we fell in LOVE and decided to be with each other, taking our marriage wows and promise “till death do us part”. We took these vows seriously and put our faith and trust in GOD to keep us united and strong together.

We began building our lives together, working towards a new home, learning how to carry out our roles as husband and wife to each other. That includes having good jobs to maintain a household and planning for our future together. We were greatly blessed with two healthy and bouncy boys (now age 14 and 10).

However, as the years went by, tension and unhappiness was built up. We “lost touch” with each other as we assume our functional roles. To make matters worse, we did not enjoy each other’s company as we used to previously. I started to feel contempt and I could not seem to find any good or happy moments in our marriage. As for my husband, he went into an avoidance mode, thinking this coping method would be the ideal way to maintain peace in our daily lives.

After years of evading our marital issues, the worst happened. We hardly communicated, our emotional connection slowly eroded and intimacy was affected. I slowly slipped into depression. At this moment, we realized that we needed HELP and FAST… it is

not something that we can figure out anymore. The problems became too big for us to resolve.

We started our therapy in October 2015, the therapy planned out by our counsellor. I discovered so much about myself and my husband felt the same way too. It also gave us a very clear direction on how we could work on our growth areas and strengthen those that were positive in our relationship. Suddenly, both of us felt a great sense of hope for our marriage.

As we diligently went through the sessions, there were many intense and honest moments that were well managed by our Counsellor. A platform was created to help us reveal all the GOOD, BAD and UGLY. Nonetheless, we know that this is the process that we have to go through. Throughout our many sessions, our Counsellor was fair and facilitated our sessions well. We could feel that we were genuinely cared for.

Today, we appreciate each other more. Our trust in each other slowly came back. The fondness and intimacy was rediscovered thus re-creating why we fell in love with each other 18 years ago! We acknowledge that we are still a work-in-progress; we still need each other to make it work. We are persevering on because we believe our marriage is the most important thing to us.

I am thankful for REACH Counselling and their dedication in the journey they walk with us.

ProgrammesSyariah Court Mandatory Counselling Programme

A total of 40 cases were referred from July 2015 when REACH Counselling started on this service with SYC. This averages 7 referrals monthly. REACH Counselling’s constraint in requesting for English-speaking Malay couples probably led to the low referral rate. Of this, 23% (9 couples) did not used the counselling service for reasons of wanting a Muslim counsellor or letting things stay status quo as the marriage seems beyond help. One or two was uncontactable.

SYC couples typically face issues of infidelity, violence, irregular or no employment leading to financial constraints and different addictions, sometimes accompanied by incarceration as well. In-laws issue also seems prevalent. Education level, income and occupation types tend to be at Polytechnic level and below, with most serving in sales or clerical roles, or associate professionals and technicians. Attending couples clock in an average of 2.8 sessions per client, as compared with 3.6 sessions for the non-mandatory clients. Outcomes tend to be dismal with almost 2 out of 10 being referred back to SYC to proceed with divorce.

The Torn Asunder (TA) Affair Recovery Programme

Though TA cases were lower, we have seen the effectiveness of using TA as a programme for couples experiencing infidelity in their marriage; leading to higher success in salvaging their marriage. In TA, key areas such as building trust, forgiveness and communication skills paved the way for the couple’s relationship to grow. TA requires couples to come clean with no third party ties, no divorce or separation plan during the programme and commitment from both parties in order to experience effectiveness of the programme.

However, TA serves chiefly to stabilise couples in the initial work of recovery. Further follow-up work is required to maintain the positive changes for couples to remain close and work at a satisfactory marriage level. In the longer term, nurturing closeness across the marriage season is seen as a useful protection of the marriage against infidelity.

29Forging Ahead


A CHANCE TO REBUILD – Jason & Joy (not couple’s real names)

My wife and I were happily married, and we were even blessed with a child a year later. However, as the child grew older, I started to feel unprepared and inadequate in raising the child. I would flare up and get really angry with my child. It did not help when my wife was pregnant again shortly later with our second child. I felt rejected by my child, neglected by my wife, and was feeling lonely. I started escaping into pornography and reconnecting with an old female friend whom I knew 10 years ago, and these ended up in an affair 3 years into my marriage.

I wanted to end the affair time and again, but found myself going back to it whenever I was feeling down and needed comforting. A year later, when my first born was 2 years old and my second child was only 3 weeks old, my wife found out about my affair.

Considering the well-being of the children as well as the covenant made in the sanctity of our faith, she gave me an ultimatum that I had to stop the affair completely and that we had to seek professional counselling to save our marriage. I was grateful for this second and final chance to save the marriage and to give our children a complete family. Therefore, I readily agreed.

As part of the recovery process, we had to each prepare a forgiveness letter that address the factors that each of us contributed to the breakdown of the

marriage. I, as the betrayer (infidel), also had to prepare an affair forgiveness letter. These letters allowed us to admit our shortcomings on record and provide accountability when we reviewed the letters later in our marriage. These letters also helped us to seek forgiveness, especially me for the affair, and we had to provide an indication whether forgiveness had been given or needed more time to work on the forgiveness process.

It has been seven months since the affair was discovered. Although my wife has not yet fully forgiven me for the infidelity, the TA programme has given her the confidence that our marriage may work. Through the sessions, my wife and I were able to understand each other better and also the factors that led to the “cracks in the marriage.” Also, through the programme, I was able to understand myself better, like discovering the underlying reason behind my anger and quick temper issues. Also, with the understandings and inner awareness obtained through the counselling sessions, I was able to better control my temper and grew closer to our kids.

With the help of God and the sessions in the TA programme, we are currently working on rebuilding trust, intimacy and reconnecting emotionally with each other. It will be a long time before full forgiveness can be obtained, and it is a long journey towards complete reconciliation, but we are hopeful that our marriage can work out, and that the torn wounds can be mended if we apply the concepts learnt in the programme.

The Torn Asunder Professional Practice group

TA Professional Support Group The TA professional practice group had 5 monthly sessions inclusive of a skype session with Dave Carder. This group served the purpose of sharpening the skills of clinicians who use TA programme in their practice. The group consisted of 10 participants inclusive of RC staff. As a niche agency for TA there is great need to provide professionals a practice group to further grow in this field of practice.

Rise to the Challenge Single Parents’ Group – 5 parents The need for support group for single parents was a concern raised by some clients who were going through separation or divorce. Individuals benefitted much from the support group as it gave them the ability to process their loneliness and pain in their journey, help them to build self-esteem and hold themselves with dignity, empowered them to share with each other life coping skills and learn from each other. This is the power of peer support and mentoring. However, their challenges of child care, charges for sessions and job involvement really became a barrier for some individuals that they had to discontinue. We hope to find new ways to connect with the single parents in the future.

Torn Asunder Professional

PracticeGroup

24 Jul-3 Nov 6 professionals

One, Two, Three or Six? Marriage Preparation Programme

REACH Counselling believes the marriage journey will always be littered with transitional changes and these changes can pose many challenges and storms for married couples. Marriage Preparation is definitely one platform where couples can come together and discuss and learn various marriage aspects that would help them to anticipate and identify challenges early. Through our programme, they then equip themselves with knowledge and skills that can not only overcome their challenges but also start their marriage on the right footing and make it stronger as they grow together as a couple.

Prepare/ Enrich was introduced in 2015 as it has many more dimensions that the couple could use to enrich understanding of self and each other. It was also more cost-effective to use as an agency.

Although last year, the numbers dipped to 48 couples, quality facilitation and delivery is ensured. Couples were actively engaged in the sessions and they learn a lot of important and essential marriage concepts and principles along the way, namely, commitment and trust, nurturing effective communication and cultivating the importance of couple closeness. They have grown in the sessions that love alone is not sufficient to sustain a good marriage but it is about living out the values of marriage that we had imparted to them.



Acknowledge our past, Build our future

Henry and Helen were young professionals who have dated for four years. About a year ago, Helen moved in to stay with Henry. They were planning to get married at the end of the year. At the urging of his mother, Henry and Helen came for Marriage Preparation Program, somewhat apprehensive and not expecting much.

Through an assessment, they were presented as a conflicted couple, having strong love for each other but struggling with many seemingly minor conflicts that affected their satisfaction of the relationship.

Henry came from a disconnected family; parents were divorced when he was a young boy. Henry attributed his inflexibility to his upbringing; he acknowledged that he is very logical leaning towards black and white thinking. In their current relationship, he inclined to give in so as to avoid conflict instead of discussing about the issues.

Helen grew up in a caring family but unfortunately her Dad passed away when she was a teenager. Being the only girl in the family, she was his main caregiver during the few years he was debilitated while simultaneously attending school. As such, she sacrificially gave up recreations and hanging out with her friends to attend to Dad. Meanwhile, Mum was working tirelessly to support

the family. She is a pleasant girl who tried hard through giving in and pleasing her partner to avoid quarrels.

Henry tended to be critical and harsh towards Helen when he felt that he was right and logical, at times failing to consider circumstances or reasons for the situation. In the session, he realized what she was doing; he showed his concern by admonishing her. Using our Communication module, I was able to coach him to say it to convey his real intention, i.e. showing concern which in turn touched her heart.

Gradually, both of them learnt to communicate assertively their needs, share feelings and thoughts as well as to manage conflicts.

At the end of the program, Henry and Helen were happy that they came, for they said they have learnt many skills; chief of which was on how to share feelings and needs as well as support each other emotionally. They are more hopeful that with the newly acquired skills, they will be able to manage and resolve their conflicts better instead of taking turns to give in or avoiding them. They are also more aware that their differences in their personalities and family backgrounds have influenced their beliefs, values, thoughts and behaviour. Working through these differences either by accepting or compromising or dialoguing, they aim for their marriage to win so they can both be winners too.

Talks and Workshops

REACH Counselling’s partnership with Citrus stayed positive as we participated to deliver a total of 12 talks during the three rounds of outdoor talks at the Blissful Outdoor Wedding Show (BOWS), the biggest wedding show in Singapore. Each round attracts no less than 1000 couples per weekend. Talks covered included: Starting Right; Sexual Intimacy, Communication and Conflict Management. A total of 250 couples were provided with expertise knowledge to be better prepared for the marriage of a lifetime.

Jan 2015

Feb 2015

Apr 2015

Apr 2015

Jun 2015

Sep 2015

October 2015

November 2015

200 pax

24 pax

70 couples

80 pax

80 pax

20 pax

60 couples

35 parents

BOWS (Blissful Outdoor Wedding Show) talks

Celebrate Love at Shunfu

BOWS talks

Young NTUC round table discussion on Total Fertility Rate

ITE College Talk on Parenting

Fly Me to the Moon-A Collaborative marriage

BOWS talks

Relating to your teens – Guang Yang Secondary School

REACH Youth - Forging Ahead to Energise and Activate Strength


Joe ChanCentre HeadREACH Youth

2015 was a year where REACH Youth finally has a physical place to build an identity of who we are and what we stand for. On 5th February 2015, we received the Certificate of Statutory Completion from Building and Construction Authority for REACH Youth Powerhouse. With that, it kicked off one of the strategic focus for 2015, which was to connect and engage the community around REACH Youth Powerhouse, starting with the Hong Kah North Constituency. I am thankful that with the hard work of the whole staff team, we managed to engage around 418 families within Hong Kah North alone through our various programmes and services in 2015. In this report, many of such programmes and projects will be presented along with the feedback of the beneficiaries.

The other strategic focus was to synergize and leverage on the existing resources and infrastructure where the staff team is based at 2 locations in Bishan and Hong Kah North, to do that which is most important. With limited resources, we evaluated the strategic direction forward as a key player and some of the service gaps in the youth sector. As a team, we concluded that we are going to consolidate our resources

and energies to serve and help those youths who are on the way transiting out from an institutional setting to successfully reintegrate back to their families. In this respect, we started the “Heroes” pilot programme, where we partnered with Singapore Boys’ Hostel to support the reintegration of nine youths who are in the midst of transiting out and back into their families.

As we reviewed the organisational strategy towards the end of 2015, together as a team with the management, we have decided to plant another REACH Youth presence at Tanglin in Q3 2016. This will be REACH Youth’s third community touch point, called REACH Youth Powerhub. Its sole purpose and mission will be to complement our service tagline of “Activating Strengths, Reaching Potential”. Powerhub’s programmes and services will be geared towards youth development and leadership building. This is where we will strategise and mobilise community resources and volunteers to be part of our vision and mission of reaching out to the youths who are in difficult circumstances and trying to take that first small step of change towards reaching their potential.


33Forging Ahead

REACH Youth Powerhouse Official Opening 2015: Heromania

Reveal the Hero in You!

REACH Youth Powerhouse was officially opened on 22 August 2015, graced by Guest of Honour Dr Amy Khor. The official opening, titled “Heromania” was made possible by 37 staff and 109 volunteers working hand in hand. There was a turnout of 95 partners and 400 from the community.

Our special thanks for:• Refreshments prepared by the seniors, youths and homemakers from Bakerholics and the ladies from Let’s Cook group under Grace Assembly of God and corporates

• Games, activities and photo booths by the staff, volunteers and partners from People’s Association

• Volunteers dressed in superheros costumes like Spiderman, Storm trooper and Batman entertained the crowd. Talents of Spartan Challenge (a weightlifting competition) and REACH Factor (a performance idol contest)

• Parent-child terrarium making competition contestants

There is a hero in every one of us, and REACH Youth is on a mission to uncover potentials and strengths in the community.

“The atmosphere was vibrant and full of energy!”

David, participant

“Congratulations once again on the official opening. We look forward to more collaborations with REACH Youth Powerhouse.”

Chin Yaw Vine, Constituency Director, Hong Kah North Constituency Office


REACH Community Services Society Annual Report 201534

Community Support

REACH Empowerment Programme (REP)

As part of the REACH Empowerment programme (REP), Project EXCEL provides academic support and organises school holiday activities to Primary and Secondary school students from low income families staying within the vicinity of Hong Kah North and Bukit Batok, motivating them to reach and develop their fullest potential.

REACH Empowerment Programme (REP)

Activities conducted in the year-end school holidays (attended by a total of 60 students):

• Gardens by the Bay – Photography lessons hosted by NIE students• Art & craft workshops to make paper straw Christmas trees, shrink plastic art keychains• Sports – Captain’s ball

Pseudonym

“Farah”

“Faries”

(Primary 5)

What they like

• Staff is very helpful

• Helps her learn right things

• Volunteers are approachable

• Learns a lot of things

• Enjoys the activities

How they fare

• Improvement in grades

• From 2 failing subjects to eligible for Normal Academic stream after PSLE

• Speak better English

• Believes youths here can show their potential and reach success in life

40 students have benefittedfrom the programme

Tuition programme

Gardens by The Bay Outing Captain’s Ball during the holiday activities

December Holiday Activities (Art and Craft ShrinkPlastic Art Keychain Workshop)

35Forging Ahead


REACH Foodcares Programme

REACH Foodcares programme is an initiative to help needy families meet their nutritional needs by supplementing them with goodie bags each month. Each goodie bag contains healthy snacks (e.g. Muesli bars, high fiber crackers), dry foods (e.g. Rice vermicelli, Horlicks) and treats (e.g. pudding). Each family typically receives 4 months-worth of goodie bags, with the value of approximately $25 per bag. Depending on the month, we distribute around 20 to 40 goodie bags to different families.

With the support of corporate sponsor, Cargill International Trading Pte Ltd, a total of 309 goodie bags, (containing food packs worth $7,620); were given out to 63 families staying within the vicinity of Hong Kah North and Bukit Batok

Packing the monthly goodie bags for families in need

Needs Assessment @ Hong Kah North

REACH Youth conducted a needs assessment exercise at Hong Kah North to determine the community needs so we can align our services to accurately meet those needs.

From October to December 2015:

• 221 responses were gathered from those living in 3-room and 4-room flats.

• 13 out of 53 elderly respondents were living alone and requested for activities

• Children of needy families were placed on the REACH Empowerment Programme

• Needy families receive monthly food rations under the Community Supermarket Programme

• Employment talks were held for job-seekers

• a focus group discussion was conducted with the Social Service Office (SSO) and the Family Service Centre on service provision

• 15 respondents signed up to be volunteers with REACH



Dazhong Primary School Partnership

Fun with Dad Programme

REACH Youth partnered with Dazhong Primary School to conduct a father and child sport programme. It seeks to boost the fathers' involvement in their children’s development and build positive relation between father and child.

Students and their fathers were engaged through dodgeball and soccer in May, July and November. The sessions saw a good turnout of between 40 to 60 fathers and their children. Fathers often look forward to the sessions, as it is a time that they can take out of their busy schedules to bond with their children through fun and healthy activities.

Peer Support Programme

REACH Youth supported Dazhong Primary School together with Bukit Batok NPC in their Peer Support Programme (PSP). Fifteen students who face issues such as lack of supervision at home, discipline and behavioural issues were chosen for the programme. Under PSP, the students after school were engaged with games, sports, talks and therapy during the March and June Holidays. REACH Youth conducted team building games, soccer and dodgeball activities.

“Mothers are often very involved with the children and their school. Fun with Dad intentionally sets out to engage the fathers in the child’s life and build a stronger father-child relationship.”

– Mdm Suriati Sinwan, Dazhong Primary School Counsellor

Project Guiding Light

REACH was in collaboration with Bishan Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) in 2015 in a program called Project Guiding Light (PGL); which seeks to motivate students to overcome the issues they face positively.

REACH conducted dodgeball activities for Bishan NPC to engage students from Guangyang Secondary and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School in a bid to keep them away from negative influences. A total of 20 students, 10 from each secondary school participated.

A parenting talk was also given by our REACH counsellor to the 35 parents of the participants on the need to understand the different transitions of a teen.

37Forging Ahead

Blessing in disguise

Ned was not your average youth. He has never seen his father and had spent most of his growing up years alone. His mother seldom had time for him because of her long working hours as a cleaning lady. Ned, slowly became uninterested in his studies and eventually started to skip school. Ned was promptly referred to us.

Ned was suspicious of his case worker – Daniel, at first. In his own words, Ned said, “What do you know about being poor and fatherless? You only know how to talk.” Even so, Daniel persevered and managed to meet Ned’s mother and took time to understand the situation.

Daniel found out that Ned was a classic latch-key kid. In many ways, he grew up faster than he was supposed to. Hardened by the life he led, Ned could not see the point of education. He was much more comfortable spending time smoking and hanging out with his friends on the streets of Geylang.

Ned’s mother fell very ill about two months into the programme and for the first time, Ned sent Daniel a text message to ask if he was free to talk. The two met and Ned shared that he was tired of his life but he had no one to turn to. He was also very worried about his mother’s condition. That day, Daniel saw a different Ned; a boy that needed love, attention and guidance.

Daniel convinced Ned to find a full-time job. With his help, Ned found a job as a cleaner. After working for about two months, Daniel explored with Ned the prospects of excelling in the cleaning service sector. Ned liked the idea and decided to take up an Advanced Certificate in Environmental Cleaning with Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). Ned wished he could start his own cleaning service company one day.


Casework & Counselling

Enhanced Step Up (ESU)

Enhanced Step-Up Scheme (ESU) is an initiative by Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to support Ministry of Education (MOE) schools. This programme aims to support students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as well as out-of-school youth.

Referrals

Sessions

2015

55

467

2014

59

638

Central-Bishan area

• Bishan Park Secondary School

• Whitley Secondary School

• Peirce Secondary School

• First Toa Payoh Secondary School

• Bartley Secondary School

West-Bukit Batok area

• Bukit Batok Secondary School

• Dazhong Primary School

• Shuqun Secondary School

Other areas

• Macpherson Secondary School

• St. Patrick’s School

• Teck Whye Secondary School

Schools served:

Open communication builds bridges

John, a SWP referral, had potential to be a good hockey player in his school team but had low motivation to attend trainings. Relationships with his parents were strained and conflicted due to his past offences and lack of communication. The SWP sessions provided space for John to reflect about his life choices and directions and it became clear to John if he were to continue living life without thinking of consequences for his actions, he will likely get into deeper trouble with the law. John became more committed and involved in exploring plans and goals for his future. He improved in his school attendance, was observed and praised by his teachers for being more interested and attentive in class and in obeying school rules. John also decided to go for hockey trainings regularly so as to give himself a chance to develop his potential fully since he enjoys the sport. Dreams of continuing studies after ‘N’ levels were contemplated, which is a big change for John as previously he has no plans after secondary school.Family sessions conducted began to build bridges between John and his parents as they seldom have the chance to talk about heartfelt issues at home. Through these sessions, his parents share their concerns with John and his relationship with his dad improved. The increased communication has opened up their understanding for each other and enabled John’s parents to better support him.



Streetwise Programme

Streetwise Programme is a six-months voluntary, preventive and rehabilitative programme for youths with gang associations, with the overall aim of helping the youths to stay away from gangs. Referrals mainly come from Secret Societies Branch (SSB) and Probation Branch of Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

As the youths were all males, sports activities were one of the main ways to value add to the boys as these gave them opportunities to explore and discover new interests and strengths. Self-defense and Kayaking sessions have proven to be popular and engaging for the boys.

Heroes

Heroes is REACH Youth’s pilot reintegration programme which aims to provide support for youths who are discharging from an institutional setting, so that there will be smoother transition back into their families and communities. This was started as we wanted to provide more support for this specific group of youths, as currently more reintegration support and attention is given to adult ex-offenders. Research also shows better reintegration helps to lower recidivism rates, thus this was another reason Heroes was started.

REACH Youth received nine referrals from Singapore Boys’ Hostel in August for this pilot run. Weekly dragonboat sessions were conducted and these gave chances for the boys to meet and build new friendships with more positive peers. Group work sessions that focused on imparting life skills and values were conducted monthly at the Hostel. Individual and family counselling sessions were also held to address identified issues so that youths and their caregivers are more empowered to cope with challenges reintegration bring.

Referrals

Sessions

2015

21

621

2014

21

616

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REACH Youth Counselling

REACH Youth Counselling was birthed in 2014 to address two key points:

• Help youths cope with relational and emotional difficulties

• Support and empower parents with appropriate coping strategies

The main issues which parents and youths sought support for in 2015 were psychosocial-emotional, relational difficulty and family issues.

Sources of referrals:

• Government and community organizations

• Community walk-ins

• Phone enquiries

• Internal referrals from existing programmes and services

Youth Enhanced Supervision Scheme (YES)

YES Scheme is a new compulsory counselling programme coordinated by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for youths aged below 21 years old, arrested for drug consumption offences for the first time. Besides counselling for youths and their parents, the programme includes regular urine tests, group work and case work components.

In November 2015, REACH Community Services Society was chosen to be one of the few agencies to run the YES Scheme through REACH Youth after rigorous selection processes. By Mid-December 2015, REACH Youth had received 9 referrals. Preparing for this new challenge in our continuous journey to serve the youths had been a humbling experience for all of us. We look forward to serve this group of youths in the coming months

Referrals

Sessions

2015

21

85

“Counselling has improved my life. Last time before counselling, I didn’t like to go to school. But now I like to go to school.”

– Jane, ITE drop out who found a passion for learning

“Thank you for believing in me and guiding me. Hope to stay in touch.”

– Amirul, referred to REACH Youth when he lost interest in formal education



“I enjoy coming to the programme to meet my friends and mentors.”

– Ani, Bakerholics Participant

REACH Youth Interest Groups

REACH Dance

The dance crew after a fun practice

REACH Dance started in the beginning of 2015, using dance as a platform to impact youths. Through the programme, 15 community youths are provided with a platform to discover their hidden potential and learn other life skills from the mentor.

Under the guidance of our dance instructor, Mr Chen Guo Hui, REACH Dance was able to perform at two events. REACH Dance performed at Odyssey Dance Theatre, a non-profit professional contemporary dance company, under the Summer DanceFit Festival 2015 and for the community at Hong Kah North during the Christmas Party 2015.

REACH Dance conducted ‘Groove ‘Em Up!’ a special enrichment session with Beatty Secondary from July – August 2015. Approximately 10 students, mostly in the Normal Technical and Academic Stream, expressed great interest in the area of dance.

Musicalinstrument

Guitarworkshop

One-Onedrum lessons

Communitydrummingworkshop

Number ofparticipants

19 youths

5 youths

20 youths

Skills learnt

Strumming, play simple songs

Basic drumming, drum to simple songs

Groupdrummingskills

Performance

Hong Kah North Zone1’s Christmas Partyon 19/12/2015

Heartstrings Walk, REACH Charity Golf Dinner and the REACH Youth Powerhouse Official Opening Ceremony.

Organisation

Delta SeniorSchool

DaySpringResidentialTreatmentCentre

SingaporeBoys’ Hostel

Number ofparticipants

10 youthsand theirparents

12 youthsand theirparents

20 youths

Activity

Team upto bake

Team upto bake

5 Bakingclinics

Learning outcome

TeamworkCommunicate effectively

TeamworkCommunicate effectively

Teamwork Self-controlPositive peerrelationship

The programme emphasises on musicality through set exercises in a positive and inspiring environment. Life skills and values such as generosity, independence, mastery and belonging are taught after each session to the students.

REACH Rock

Learning simple chords and plucking on the guitar

REACH Rock uses music as a platform to engage youths and impart life skills. The programme attracts youths from the Hong Kah North community.

Through the learning and performing process, the youths learnt values like, perseverance, excellence, teamwork, focus and confidence.

Bakerholics

REACH Youth engages youths and homemakers through baking. With the support of National Youth Council, we outreached, trained and equipped volunteers in mentoring the youths in Bakerholics.

Baking sessions conducted:

41Forging Ahead

Surrounded by care and patience – it matters

Nurul was one of the youths whom I felt a deeper connection with. Initially, Nurul was not very keen in the programme because her mother had pushed her to come. However, as the months passed, Nurul’s attendance at Bakerholics sessions become more regular because she felt she had more friends here and more comfortable talking about her problems to her friends here.

Nurul, not only improved her baking skills, she also grew as a person. She could control her aggressive tendencies better after joining the Bakerholics programme. She attributed the change to being surrounded by girls who are more patient and slow to anger during the regular baking sessions, which could have rubbed off onto her.

I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment to have seen Nurul grow in her skills and character. She shared with me about the struggles she faces at home and in school. Although I was not able to resolve most of her problems, I always did my best to make sure she felt cared for and that her problems mattered. As time passed, I found that she could face her problems with a more positive attitude and that encouraged me that my concern for her did not go to waste.These experiences impressed upon me valuable life lessons which a typical classroom can never teach. I feel that just as I have seen the youths grow, I have grown too.

– Clara, Bakerholics Volunteer


REACH Sports Engagement Programmes

REACH Kayaking

Kayaking at Jurong Lake

Group photo with SEA Games Gold Medallists, Lucas Teo and Suzanna Seah.

Partners in 2015

• Pioneer CSC Kayaking Interest Group• Delta Senior School• Boys Town

REACH Arena

Trainer demonstrating the way to flip a tyre

Sled pull

REACH Arena Gym



REACH Youth now has our own very own gym called REACH Arena. With this new gym, many people who are in the community and from our sports program will use it to grow stronger in their individual sport. This gym is sponsored by Optimum Nutrition.

REACH Arena happenings -

• Monthly mass workouts in partnership with Society Staples

• Deadlift competition sponsored by Optimum Nutrition

• Operation Broken Wing in partnership with Innervate Crossfit

Moving ahead, REACH Arena will be looking at programs to help the different Voluntary Children Homes in Singapore to reintegrate the youths back to the community.

REACH Dodgeball

Youths at the dodgeball try-outs

Dragon Boat Events

DBS Ergometer Challenge

Singapore Dragon Boat Festival

PA Paddle Fest

Singapore River Regatta

Achievement

• 3rd individual champion

• 3rd prize for the PA 10 Men Crew Category

• 4th prize for the PA 10 Crew Mixed Category

• 1st, 2nd & 3rd for PA T-Net 10 Crew Category

• 1st prize for the PA 10 Crew Mixed Category

• 2nd prize for the PA 10 Crew Men Category

• 4th prize for the PA 10 Crew Men Category

• 4th prize for the PA 10 Crew Mixed Category

REACH Dodgeball has grown leaps and bounds since it started in 2014. Moving to Bukit Batok to start a new youth centre brought new opportunities to start a new Dodgeball team in the west.

REACH Dodgeball happenings –

• Weekly dodgeball games at Bukit Batok

• REACH Dodgeball Team, made up of 20 community youths

• Annual dodgeball competition in partnership with Geylang West T-Net

Moving ahead, we are looking at impacting more at risk youths with this sport, by going into the Institutions and Homes in Singapore. The aim of the programme would be reintegrating the institutionalized youths to the Dodgeball community, so that they would not go back to their vices.

REACH Dragons

REACH Dragons had the chance to take part in many events and competitions in 2015. The sport teaches our youths to be resilient and committed.

Participants in 2015: 50 rowers per week

Total Number of Sessions Conducted: 50 weeks, 2 sessions per week

An inspiring growth journey witnessed

Winston, 17 years old

One individual who benefited from the REACH Dragons Programme, is a very helpful and thoughtful 17 years old, Winston. He had always been disciplined and focused during trainings compared to the rest of his friends. He is unmistakably talented in the craft of Dragon Boat rowing nurtured by his own determination to achieve a better self. Even after being discharged from Young Person’s Home in Singapore, Winston not only continued to attend water trainings regularly but also went on to assist in coaching and leading a few boats as a Pacer during his tour as a Dragon Boater ever since June 2014.

During the infantile years of his experiences in REACH Dragons, Winston understood that in addition to physical prowess, teamwork and camaraderie is paramount in such a team sport. Individually, his attitude and character transformed him to bea more included individual of his community- a change that was indeed for the better. Never again is Winston boastful or arrogant in his duties, as he understands in the sport of dragon boating, it requires more than the determination of one person to conquer.

Overall, Winston attained personal growth and gained friendships as well. He felt that his most significant moments of being in REACH Dragons were having outings with his team. These outings bond them closer through the fun and toil they have together. It has been amazing witnessing Winston’s growth since the start. He has grown to be more mature in his thinking and we definitely would encourage, and nurture, such individuals like him to aspire towards such greatness.


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April 2015

May 2015

July 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

December 2015

LifeSkill Workshops and special events in 2015

Empathy & Awareness

The Larger Community

Communication & Cohesion

Team Glory VS. Individual Glory

National Sports Awareness

Giving Back to the Community

Achieving Your Dreams

Giftedness in Differences

Dialogue in the Dark @ NP

Paddle for Good @ DBS River Regatta

Escape Room

Paintballing

Singapore Sports Institution Tour

Operation Broken Wing

iFly Singapore

ASEAN Paralymic Games

REACH Waterdragons (SportCares)

• A sports programme sponsored by SportCares Foundation

• The youths from Singapore Boy’s Hostel, Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre and Andrew & Grace Home became a part of REACH Dragons under this programme.

• The intention was for the youths to appreciate teamwork, increase their level of empathy for others in the community, develop practical life-skills and widen their social support networks.

• The youth embarked on the challenge to train and compete in the Singapore River Regatta, Singapore Dragon Boat Festival & PA Paddlefest.

Participants: 45 rowers per week

Total Number of Sessions Conducted: 50 weeks, two sessions per week

Winston rowing as our team’s right pacer during the Singapore Dragon Boat Festival at Bedok Reservoir(11th – 12th July, 2015)


Kick up his confidence

One boy that has benefitted by being in REACH UNITED is Damien Wong. Damien is only 13 years old and is currently schooling at Jurongville Secondary SchoolPreviously, he only cared about playing soccer in a flashy manner. However, as a result of the supervision and coaching of the team coach and manager, he now understands that there are many other components to enhance one’s soccer performance, namely strength and physical fitness. Thus, he strived to improved his fitness by doing sprints and bodyweight exercises required under the training programme; and achieved his aim.

When asked about the element that has incentivized his consistent return to REACH United, he answered crisply, “There is no reason not to come back.” Thereafter, he explained that he enjoyed the program because the training allowed him to participate in and constantly challenge him to improve his skills. On top of that, the coaches’ sense of humor made him assimilate easily in the team.

Damien mentioned that his self-esteem has improved. When questioned why, he elaborated, he doesn’t really know. But he thinks he smile a lot more now. He also shared that he felt much more comfortable with himself, and that the combination of his improved soccer performance and his newly formed friendships facilitated this.


REACH UNITED

REACH United garnered like-minded youths to come together to learn positive values through soccer trainings and to participate in soccer competitions. The team has a total of 80 players scattered in the Central, West and North-east of Singapore, this is possible because of the collaboration with different partners in the community that REACH Youth works with.

Bishan East Reach Youth Passion’s Children Football Team

Partners

Bishan EastCommunitySports Cluband People’sAssociation

SingaporeBoys’ Hostel

Community Youths atTamanJurong Ark

Trainingdetails

Weekly(Bishan EastREACH YouthPassion’sChildrenfootball)

Weekly

EveryThursday

Target group

Children aged5-12 years oldand their parents

Institutionalized youths

Youths livingin the westregion

Programmeobjective

Bonding betweenchild and parents

TeamworkPositive peerrelationshipsLife skills – determinationand patience

Positive valuesand teamwork

Achievement

SAFRACS Futsal : Champion and 2nd runner-up

Aim to reintegratesmoothly backinto their community

Competence Team award in the VOX football festival organizedby the SingaporeChildren Society

45Forging Ahead


REACH Youth Gives Back – Operation Broken Wing 2015

REACH Youth team

REACH youth beneficiary doing a kettlebell swing

Damien (left) and his team mates that participated in Vox Football Festival 2015

Operation Broken Wing is one of REACH Youth’s annual events, where athletes from all the CrossFit boxes in Singapore come together to do a set of exercises, to raise funds for the REACH Youth.

• Organised by Innervate CrossFit

• Held at SCAPE Orchard

• 300 participants, including REACH Youth Beneficiaries

• Operation Broken Wing 2015 managed to raise close to $100,000.

We are glad that Innervate Crossfit has again made REACH Youth the charity they would like to fund raise for the year 2016. It aims to be bigger and better, with additional participation of regional Crossfit boxes.

REACH Senior - Forging ahead to Connect and Invigorate Life

47Forging Ahead

In today’s ageing population, we need to highlight the significance of services for the seniors, in order to promote active ageing and provide care for the seniors who live alone.

The emphasis of REACH Senior in Engaging Minds and Fulfilling Lives is in line with MSF’s plan to reach out to vulnerable seniors with little family and social support to help them live and grow old independently and with dignity, enhance their quality of life and allow them to grow old within their own homes or community.

REACH Senior Centre (RSC) located at Jalan Membina complements the existing Senior Activity Centres like Silver Ace @ Bukit Merah and Sarah SAC located at Jalan Bukit Merah. SACs like Silver Ace and Sarah SAC reach out to the seniors in the rental blocks in the area, while REACH Senior Centre aims to reach out to the seniors who live in the purchased apartments, thus closing the service gap, to serve the social and active ageing needs of the seniors; especially those who live alone.

REACH Senior (RS) took over the operations of the centre located in Jalan Membina from Evergreen Welfare in October 2015. The former operator was initially managing the Alert Alarm System (AAS), a security structure put in place by HDB for the seniors residing in the studio apartments of blocks 26A and 26B in Jalan Membina. Our primary role is to provide emergency support for the seniors residing in these blocks during office hours if they activate the system.

Apart from that, we hope to provide additional services to the seniors residing in these blocks and the senior community in and around Jalan Membina. We hope to engage and befriend these seniors and provide interventions through regular activities which will be of interest to them and will benefit and enhance their well-being. The activities are organized to meet

their physical, psychological, emotional and social needs for them to experience happiness and joy in their lives.

REACH Senior’s tagline of “Engaging Minds, Fulfilling Lives” seeks to engage the senior residents through its weekday activities, programmes and events. It also seeks to promote senior volunteerism by encouraging and empowering seniors to serve the needy in community.

We plan to organize more meaningful activities for them such as singing; dancing; other kinds of art and craft activities; cooking; English and Mandarin classes; monthly birthday celebrations with potluck; movie viewing; health screening; educational talks conducted by the police and health related agencies; and regular outings to interesting places. We also plan to introduce counselling services to provide first line support to seniors who may be facing difficulties in their lives and to refer them to external agencies if they require further assistance.

In addition, another senior service is being provided to the seniors residing in Bukit Batok by one of the pastors and dedicated group of volunteers from Grace Assembly of God church. They have been regularly conducting weekly activities at our Youth Centre located at Bukit Batok. They conduct physical exercises and other forms of interesting activities such as cooking, and educational talks after their exercise routine.

There is a growing number of seniors in this region as in Tiong Bahru who need some form of support from the community. REACH Senior Service hopes to reach out to this vulnerable population in our society through our on-going efforts to support their varied needs. In conclusion, we look forward to see more seniors living meaningful and active lives in their silver years.

Joseph RajagopalActing Head, Senior and Auxillary ServicesREACH Senior Centre

Engaging Minds, Fulfilling LivesRSC formally began its operations in October 2015, but prior to this, we carried out a series of activities to build our relationship with the seniors. An outreach effort consisting of a concert and dinner was collaboratively done with Grace Assembly of God church.

The seniors waiting for their sumptuous dinner

This event was graced by Dr Amy Khor and sponsored by a donor to bless the seniors in our community. The theme was centered around loving our community. The concert consisted of songs and dance presentations, including a health talk.

This followed a needs assessment exercise in July 2015 from home visits to those residing in the 82 studio apartment units on the AAS. We shared with them the services provided by our centre. Generic information on their background and their areas of interest was collected to determine the profile of the seniors for us to plan and organize relevant and meaningful activities to meet their needs.

Food Rations for the Seniors

Bags of food and daily necessities prepared by Sembcorp

Other charity events were carried out in collaboration with corporate organizations such as Sembcorp through their Sembcorp Gives Back Project which consisted of distributing goodie bags to 32 seniors residing in the studio apartments through Sembcorp Gives Back Project; Mooncake distribution to 50 seniors sponsored by Home Favorite; and another outreach event, a Mid-Autumn Festival dinner was organized with the members from the Mandarin service of Grace Assembly of God church for 33 seniors. Daily Exercise Programmes for the Seniors at Jalan MembinaThe operations of the centre began with the humble beginning of 15 seniors who came forward to participate in our physical exercises which we conducted on a daily basis as we recognized the need for them to stay healthy.

A trainer teaching the seniors simple exercises

The numbers gradually grew as we expanded our activities which included various forms of activities such as mind-stimulating board games; colouring; art and craft activities such as recycling used T-shirts into making handbags; workshop on the usage of iPhone/iPad; Talk on the benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); and an outing to the Botanical Garden sponsored by Ardent Business Advisory Pte Ltd. These activities were organized and facilitated by three full-time staff comprising of a Head and two programme executives with the help of committed and dedicated volunteers from AOG church and the seniors themselves, some of whom who have volunteered their services.

Seniors doing t-shirt crafts

REACH Senior - Forging ahead to Connect and Invigorate Life


FINANCIAL

REPORT

2015

Financial Report 2015



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Funders

Donors

Community Champions

All Grassroots Organisations from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRCAll Grassroots Organisations from Hong Kah North SMCAgency for Integrated CareArdent Associates LLPBishan HDB Branch OfficeBishan Neighbourhood Police CentreBukit Merah T-NetCargill International Trading Pte LtdCentral Singapore CDCCOMNET AMKFSC Community ServicesCOMNET Senior ServicesCriminal Investigations Department, Singapore Police ForceDodgeball Association of SingaporeElectric Cables Manufacturer Pte LtdGeylang West T-NetHewlett Packard Singapore

Htwo Education HoldingsInformatics Academy Pte LtdInstitute of Mental Health, SingaporeKembangan Chai Chee CSCMacpherson T-NetNational Healthcare GroupNorth East CDCPioneer CSCPotong Pasir CSCProvimi Singapore Pte LtdSembcorp Industries LtdSingapore Dragonboat AssociationSportCares FoundationSSO Toa PayohSportCares FoundationSSO Toa Payoh

Thank you to all other FSCs, Schools and VWOs whom we have worked with in 2015!

ACI SingaporeArdent Associates LLPCargill International Trading Pte LtdCredit Bureau (Singapore) Pte LtdGammon Construction Pte LtdHewlett Packard SingaporeHome Favourite Pte LtdInformatics Education Ltd

Innervate CrossFitJoshua Research People’s AssociationProvimi SingaporeSportCares FoundationSembCorp Industries LtdShangri-La Hotel of SingaporeViewQwest Singapore Pte Ltd

REACH Community Services SocietyBlock 187 Bishan Street 13 #01-475 Singapore 570187

Tel: 62522566 | Email: [email protected]

REACH Counselling CentreBlock 307 Shunfu Road #01-137 Singapore 570307

Tel: 68010730

REACH Youth PowerhouseBlock 417 Bukit Batok West Ave 4 #01-284 Singapore 650417

Tel: 68010740

REACH Family Service CentreBlock 187 Bishan Street 13 #01-475 Singapore 570187

Tel: 62522566

REACH Senior CentreBlock 26B Jalan Membina #01-188 Singapore 165026

Tel: 68010722

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