Three non-profit groups to tap new community space
They will work together to boost aid, use venue as training hub
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Education Minister Lawrence Wong (centre), an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, chatting with Mayor of North West District Alex Yam, also an MP for the GRC, and a resident who was exercising at Gym Tonic at Space @ Woods Square yesterday. The gym is run by the senior services team of Care Corner Singapore, one of three non-profit organisations that will use the community space.
ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
A new community space in Woodlands will bring together three non-profit organisations so they can more effectively partner and help Singaporeans in need who live in the northern part of the country.
The new 21,500 sq ft Space @ Woods Square was donated by the developers of integrated commercial development Woods Square - Sekisui House, Far East Orchard and Far East Organization.
The community space was unveiled yesterday by Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
The three non-profit organisations - Care Corner Singapore, New Life Community Services and World Vision Singapore - will be able to partner one another in providing collaborative and complementary services to benefit and empower the community, said Care Corner Singapore in a statement.
Mr Wong, who is also a patron of Care Corner, said: "It's so important that while the Government does more, we also strengthen that spirit of mutual help, support and fellowship within the community."
He added: "This new space will indeed enable (the organisations) to serve people in need in a more effective way, especially for beneficiaries in the northern part of Singapore, and to expand their outreach to new volunteers more effectively."
Care Corner's integrated youth service pilot, meant to provide mental health screening and basic support for young people with mental health issues, will operate out of Space @ Woods Square. The non-profit organisation's senior services team will also run Gym Tonic, a strength training gym funded by philanthropic organisation Lien Foundation, for elderly beneficiaries at the space.
New Life Community Services plans to use the space to expand its flagship literacy and children mentoring programmes, as well as run holiday activities and camps, said its executive director Steve Kon.
World Vision intends to use the space to continue providing young people with service learning opportunities with its partners Youth Corps Singapore and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
The three organisations will also be using the space as a training hub for volunteers, said Care Corner.
An estimated 2,000 volunteers will be trained annually at the location in areas such as hotline counselling, befriending, mentorship training and youth community projects.
Care Corner Singapore chief executive officer Yap Poh Kheng said that the new space is the result of collaborative efforts across the community, as well as the public and private sectors.
He said: "What we have done at Woods Square is a microcosm of what we hope to achieve across our spectrum of work for the marginalised in Singapore.
"We cannot and should not be doing it on our own."
