Long way from home

Eddie Chan says having a common language helps build trust with elderly Chinese in London who need assistance. Cecily Liu / China Daily

Engineer-turned-charity-worker looks after elderly Chinese alone in Britain

Today's London is full of Chinese faces ranging from young students to experienced professionals and curious tourists. But among them is a growing population of isolated elderly Chinese who are desperately in need of help, according to a charity organization.

"At present there is no care home or shelter housing in and around London sympathetic to elderly Chinese people's cultural needs, where they can live in peace, harmony and dignity," says Eddie Chan, chairman of the Chinese Welfare Trust.

"We are here to help because sometimes a little help can mean a lot. For example, a conversation in Mandarin can save an elderly Chinese person from becoming depressed, or reminding them about taking medicine can keep them healthy."

Originally from Hong Kong, Chan came to the UK in 1971 for high school. He then completed an engineering degree at Sheffield University before joining a British engineering company.

In 2001, when frequent overseas work trips became too demanding, he decided to leave the industry and joined the Chinese National Healthy Living Centre, a charity providing health services for the Chinese community in the UK.

In 2008, Chan founded the Chinese Welfare Trust, which has raised about 80,000 pounds ($121,000; 92,500 euros) over the years to help elderly Chinese residents.

Chan says many of the Chinese people his team helps came to the UK as young workers between the 1970s and 1990s, when Britain's migration policy was less strict. They typically worked for long hours in Chinese restaurants or supermarkets over the years, and now consider the UK to be their permanent home.

As these workers mostly spoke Mandarin or Cantonese to their colleagues, their English is poor. Some live apart from their children, which leaves them with no one to turn to when they need help.

In the UK, many elderly people live in care homes, but Chinese who do not speak English often choose to live alone.

"These elderly people need to receive help from someone they trust, and the first step to building up trust is a common language," Chan says.

As well as a full-time manager, William Thomas, to do liaison work, the trust also employs Joe Hung, a part-time support worker who makes regular visits to Chinese residents living in about 25 flats owned by Soho Housing Association, a non-profit organization providing low-cost housing.

He performs simple tasks, including alerting the housing association to broken facilities.

"If the cooker doesn't work, then it needs to be fixed quickly, otherwise the elderly are forced to eat out," Chan says.

The Chinese Welfare Trust has also helped some to find suitable accommodation. Although elderly people in the UK who do not have the means to support themselves are eligible to receive free or subsidized local council flats, they often face difficulties such as long waiting lists, or simply being unable to fill in application forms.

One person helped by the trust was Ling, an immigrant from Hong Kong, who had spent his working life in the UK working for Chinese restaurants, and living above them.

After being made redundant in October 2010, Chan says, Ling was unable to pay his rent. He spent many months looking for work but at 64 years old and suffering arthritis in his hands, he was unsuccessful.

Ling contacted the Chinese Welfare Trust at the suggestion of a friend, and it helped him to find accommodation in an apartment block where a Chinese couple was resident. It also helped him to apply for local council funding.

Looking to the future, Chan says he hopes the trust can house a group of Chinese residents in an apartment block, so that suitable facilities can be provided centrally.

"For a start, we will have a worker who can just visit the Chinese elderly collectively, talking to them in Chinese, and helping them to fill in application forms for benefits," says Chan, describing his vision.

"The block is linked up with a local Chinese supermarket. The worker can then say to the elderly, 'Give me your weekly shopping list', send the collective order to the supermarket and have all the items delivered to the block in a truck.

"We'll also deliver Chinese newspapers to the residents. Maybe they'd like to watch Chinese-language television, so we can install a satellite dish to receive channels like Phoenix or TVB."

Cooked meals could be provided centrally, and the block could be located close to a Chinese community center, which will have facilities for tai chi classes and mahjong.

Chan says that he has suggested such a plan to several London borough councils, but it has been turned down by all because, he believes, of limited funding allocated to them for care of the elderly by central government.

No borough was happy to host a Chinese care home, Chan says, because it would attract Chinese from other boroughs and the council would be liable for funding their benefit packages.

But Chan is still hopeful. He says his team has come up with the idea of a smaller care home in a borough that already has enough elderly Chinese elderly to fill it.

The trust is now looking to buy about a quarter of the units in an apartment block developed by a housing association. In a 4-million-pound apartment block, say, the trust would need to contribute 1 million pounds to buy five to eight flats.

Chan says some borough governments may be happy with this arrangement, one that allows the trust to help residents in a more pragmatic way.

"It will mean a lot of fundraising, but this could be easier once we have a concrete plan, as people are more willing to donate towards a specific project," he says.

Hung is also collating evidence of the support that he has given to the Chinese elderly to present to the British government to gain more backing.

"Our work saves money for the British government."

"We look forward to a time when we can help more elderly Chinese, but for now we do as much as we can so that we can expand by showing people the results of our work."

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/24/2013 page28)