Tips on growing bonsai trees, sampling South Asian cuisine and listening to African drums and music jamming were just some of the activities celebrating the 11th anniversary of the City-Youth Empowerment Project (CYEP).

The theme of “Happy Carnival 2016” held on 23 April was “Walk and Grow”, which highlighted CYEP’s commitment to walk the service-learning pathway and grow under its mission of empowering students and community.

Guests at the opening ceremony included Professor Horace Ip Ho-shing, Vice-President (Student Affairs), Professor Zang Xiaowei, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Mr Gary Chong, Manager of Providence Foundation Limited, and Dr Elaine Au Liu Suk-ching, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences and Convener of CYEP.

Founded in 2005, CYEP is a non-credit programme concerning voluntary service. It trains up CityU students to participate in volunteer work and promotes long-term regular social services.

As of 2016, the average annual number of registered student volunteers has grown to over 1,100 with a total of over 138,000 accumulated service hours.