The Carelinks Cadre was officially inaugurated when Assistant Commissioner (Personnel) Chan Wai-ki appointed 50 Carelinkers and seven members of the Carelinks Cadre Steering Group during Psychological Services Group's third "Balances and Wisdom" Seminar in the PHQ Auditorium on July 9.

The Carelinks Cadre, preparation for which started in July 2004, is one of the major projects of PSG's three-year mental health campaign on "Balances and Wisdom". The Cadre aims at recruiting volunteers with potential helping skills, providing them with training, and then involving them in enhancing the psychological well being of their colleagues, as well as promoting a culture of care within the Force.

The name Carelinks Cadre exemplifies the spirits of "Care", "Linkage" and "Esprit de Corps", and the Cadre members are called Carelinkers to signify their mission.

Recruitment of Carelinkers commenced in November 2004 and response from Force members was encouraging, with a total of 209 applications received. Of this, about 100 were short listed for the selection exercise, and 50 were eventually chosen in January 2005.

Four training sessions were conducted for the recruit Carelinkers between March and June this year, covering a variety of topics like "Self-understanding", "Sensitivity", "Mental Health", "Problem of Stress of Police Officers", "Listening Skills", "Basic Concepts of Counseling" and "Balance between Work and Life". The Carelinkers were enthusiastic about their training, rendering the training sessions a very fruitful and valuable learning exercise.

Upon completion of the first phase of training and their official appointment, the Carelinkers are poised for action. They have been divided into six groups, each having a Steering Group member as facilitator.

The services they will provide in the coming 12 months include the followings:

1. Providing psychological support services to Recruit Police Constables at the Police Training School;

2. Organising and conducting localised care groups for different levels of Force members with various needs, and helping with PSG's initiatives on mental health promotion (e.g. the 2005 Healthy Life Style Carnival), and

3. Attending training courses both within and outside the Force, visiting various service providers in the community and conducting studies on the needs of their colleagues.

Those in need of the foregoing services or those having ideas about how the Cadre can help may call the Chairman of the Carelinks Cadre Steering Group, Chief Inspector Gilbert Wong (Tel. No. 2860-2991) or Edmond Lau (Tel. No. 2866-1561). They may also contact the Steering Group via email at Carelinks@police.gov.hk.

A "caring heart"

During an interview with OffBeat, CIP Wong said he was "thrilled" to witness the birth of the Cadre upon its inception last year. He recalled: "During the whole process of selection and the subsequent training modules, I noted that the 50 recruit Carelinkers shared one thing in common, that is "a caring heart". Whilst there is a great capacity and desire to care within each of us, the recruits dare to care and share."

CIP Wong wound up the interview by quoting some words of wisdom from a Spanish conductor, Pablo Casals - "The capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance."

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