Club-funded footbridge provides more than just convenience to disabled students

Sze Kong-to (right) and Sophie Milner walk along the footbridge to the new campus.

It is a standard footbridge, 34 metres long and 2.7 metres wide. But in the eyes of Hong Kong Red Cross John F.Kennedy Centre students, the footbridge not only provides safe passage for them, but also shortens the distance between two campuses. It allows disabled students to walk between the school campuses safely, and gives teachers and students more time to spend together.

On this particular day, Sze Kong-to and Sophie Milner, both Form One students, guide a group of visitors across the footbridge. They keep praising its convenience, as they and other students can now save time and walk safely between the campuses via the footbridge, which was the aim when The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust funded its construction.

The footbridge connects the new and old campuses of Hong Kong Red Cross John F. Kennedy Centre. It is totally enclosed to provide protection from the elements, but has windows allowing sunlight to shine through. For physically weaker students and those suffering from longterm disease with low mobility, the footbridge is both a safer option to cross the road and a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine.

Sophie Milner (left) and Sze Kong-to used to cross the road between the campuses before the bridge was built.

Kong-to, who suffers from dwarfism, is petite and has to sway his body left and right in order to help him walk. The swaying movement makes him sweat profusely and become extremely exhausted even over a short distance. Before the footbridge was built, students had to walk to the back door of the main building in the old campus, cross the road to the main door of the new campus, and then take a lift to get to the classroom on the other side. All of this may seem simple for able-bodied people, but for disabled students, this can easily take 20 to 30 minutes.

It allows disabled students to walk between the school campuses safely, and gives teachers and students more time to spend together …

HKJC Steward Sir C. K. Chow (back row, eighth from right), Executive Director, Charities, Douglas So (back row, second from right) and other officiating guests celebrate Christmas with the students.

The days before the footbridge

Kong-to, who loves to make jokes, says, "A student who enjoys P. E. lessons very much used to be unhappy every time he went to class. This was because it took him half an hour to walk from the main building of the old campus to the playground in the new wing, and another half an hour to come back. This left him only one period to participate in a two-period P. E. session." Now, with the footbridge linking the two campuses, students can truly enjoy their P. E. lessons.

Hong Kong Red Cross John F. Kennedy Centre is the only special school on Hong Kong Island offering residential services to children with physical disabilities. There was only one campus when the school was founded, but it had become overcrowded with the increase in enrolment and expansion of teaching requirements. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust funded the expansion and upgrading of facilities of the main campus in 1995. In 2007, the Charities Trust provided funding for the construction of the footbridge linking the main and new campuses, which was opened in September 2011.

Senior physiotherapist Yeung Hung-kai

A busy public road separates the two campuses, and cars, buses and even trucks constantly pass through. Students and teachers found it very inconvenient before the footbridge was built. "It was like we were going to war when we crossed the road," says Sophie. "Teachers and school staff would come and help us. Some students needed to use a wheelchair and some needed special devices to help them walk. The road was uneven and it was easy for students to fall. Some of us were already used to falling down and getting up to walk again. It was not an easy task," adds Sophie, who suffers from cerebral palsy.