Providing simple, dignified and affordable "farewell services in hospitals" and related support for low-income families

Some people have the impression that "farewell services in hospitals" are crude and impersonal. However, low-income families may not be able to afford conventional after-death services. Aiming to fill the gap, the venture provides affordable, simple yet dignified after-death services via "farewell services in hospitals" as well as emotional support to low-income families who wish to bid final farewells to their deceased family members.

The venture aims to serve poor bereaved families in need, who can only afford basic funeral expenses (including recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme and low-income families). Its service includes basic after-death arrangements, end-of-life/after-death emotional support for family members provided by registered social workers, counsellors or life and death educators, and advice on green burial for relatives of the deceased. The charge for basic services is around the maximum amount of burial grant the family members of the deceased can receive under the CSSA scheme. Additional services or other special requests (e.g. corpse restoration services and forensic support) will be referred to relevant NGOs or other service providers for follow-up actions.

In addition to referrals from partnering NGOs, the venture will also reach out to target beneficiaries by providing talks and seminars at elderly centres, nursing homes and patient support groups, etc., on topics covering funeral options available in Hong Kong and life and death education.

The venture has proceeded to start-up with funding support from the SIE Fund.