Andrew Jones

Emeritus Chairman, KELY

"Providing peer support to your friends not only helps them, it also makes you a better person."

I've always believed in giving back to the community, particularly as it relates to young people. In 1991, I was the president of the Rotary Club of Kowloon - through that, I worked with youth groups. That year, I was also asked to host a dinner for the Rotary Club with a theme on youth. I had read in the newspapers that there was an informal peer support group for young people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction called KELY, so I invited them to come speak at the dinner.

At that dinner, the speaker outlined the scale and devastating consequences of drug and alcohol addiction in young people in Hong Kong. Rotary dinners are normally quite lively, but that night, you could hear a pin drop in the ballroom. People were so intent on what he was saying. I looked around the room full of Rotary members, many of them caring parents, each thinking, "Where are my kids tonight?"

The government was running its own campaigns to discourage drug use, but even I found the content boring, so you can only imagine how young people would find it. The speaker shared a model that seemed more innovative and more creative, and most importantly, resonated with other young people. I'm the type of person who strongly believes that once you know, you have to do something. So once I understood the challenges that young people in the community were feeling, I felt I had to help.

KELY was looking to raise funds to help establish itself as a registered charity, so I helped to mobilise support through my Rotary Club. Because of that initial involvement, the team at KELY invited me to be the first Honorary Treasurer. I told them I would commit six months to help get the organisation started, but the more I worked with KELY and the more I understood the situation, the more I extended my commitment. I've now been involved for 30 years!

In the early years of KELY, people didn't understand what we were doing, we were non-conformist. Many people believe that addicts only have themselves to blame - I used to believe this too, but after working with young people all these years, it's clear to me that drug and alcohol addiction is a symptom of underlying issues such as mental health issues, problems at home, peer pressure, and lack of support structures and services. I believe that is why KELY’s approach of harm reduction with a focus on mental health and wellbeing support, together with positive youth development programmes, resonates with the young people in the community.

Being involved in KELY over the past thirty years has been very meaningful to me. Confidentiality is an important aspect of our work, and even last year a fellow Rotarian told me that KELY had helped save the life of his daughter. Although a friend, I had no idea of the positive impact KELY had on his family. This continues to renew my belief that having KELY’s support is such an important factor for the young people in our community.