Help Us Create a Safe Space for Mental Health Support

At The New Normal Charity, we provide free peer support groups for people navigating life’s challenges. But we need a permanent, dedicated space to truly make an impact. We are infinitely grateful to our venue partners who have allowed us to expand our peer support groups across Hong Kong. We have reached a point where we need our own space to facilitate further growth. That is why we are launching an annual fundraiser to make that dream a reality.

Consistency and Comfort: A regular, consistent environment helps attendees feel safe and at ease.

Increased Reach: A dedicated space allows us to host more frequent groups, supporting more people who beed our help. We have had to cap our group sizes due to limited space and our own location would mean we never have to do that again.

Community: Having a home base builds a helps people to feel like they belong. We dream of a hub where we can share resources as well as offer support. 87% of our attendees cannot afford private mental health care so providing this space is vital.

Our Team: Our team would have a space to get together and collaborate.

Training and Education: Having a space to offer training, education and workshops means that we can scale up our open to the public training offerings, in a venue that is fit for purpose.

With your help, we can rent a permanent space to serve as the home for our community. This space will:
- Offer a calm, welcoming atmosphere designed for connection and support.
- Allow us to expand our programmes, including new groups for underserved communities.

What people say about our peer support groups

99% feel that our peer support groups are a supportive space to share
87% feel that their mental health has improved as a result of attending
60% of people who have experienced thoughts of suicide report a reduction in these thoughts after attending
84% gain new coping strategies
79% feel more hopeful about their situation

"I'm barely scraping by financially and don't have a budget for most social activities, and being alone at home for most of the week was making my mental health deteriorate. So your generosity in organising events free of charge really helped me find some form of structure in life and I was able to take steps towards weaning off substance abuse. The open-discussion nature of your groups makes them more accessible than stricter programmes. Although I sometimes am just being a listener at TNN meetings, I always leave with a heart that's less weighed down by anxiety and depression."

"Attending the peer support groups helped me understand that what I'm experiencing is normal and that I'm not alone. The last group I attended was a few days before my birthday. I was feeling rather depressed about my work situation, and the fact that my birthday was a few days away made me feel worse about my situation. I felt like I didn't deserve any celebration. But the group was immensely supportive as I shared my anxieties and fears. And at the end of the session, they sang "happy birthday" to me. I felt very touched by this gesture and I felt heard, for the first time, in a long time."

"I appreciate how TNN has fostered a culture of openness and safety to its participants, including first time attendees. Everyone was very empathetic and supportive, and I was very grateful that in the session that I attended, we could share about hard, difficult things, but the group also welcomed shifting to more practical and humorous discussions of tools and resources different people are willing to share. After the session, I personally felt that most attendees left with a lighter heart than when they arrived. I had an incredible experience to feel uplifted talking with strangers and making space for each other's experience and feelings, that is quite something!"

"我從同路人的分享裏得到安慰。有些自己說不出口的情緒，也因為聽到別人說出來，而得到安頓。總的來說，參加活動前後的改變，就是由不安變成心安。即使情況沒有改變，但我可以更從容地接受和面對。謝謝你們：)"

"知道自己不是唯一有煩惱的人。別人可以面對困難，自己也可以"

"完成小組後，心情變得更加，聆聽別人的故事時，自己都有所得着，透過表達自己，更清楚自己"

"I'm more ready to speak to others whereas before I was afraid of judgement. And it's a good practice to help improve my social anxiety. I was less self conscious of making mistakes with what I speak about in an understanding environment."

"Knowing people were going through the same things with me makes the whole situation less lonely. The things we talked in the group also encouraged me to look things in a different direction."

"I was not ready to share my story, my feelings, but the atmosphere of no judgement, of love, and support made me feel comfortable enough to stay."

"Being able to share and be vulnerable with peers from all walks of life has allowed me to feel much less alone and effectively process some of the complicated emotions."

"It’s a very welcoming community. I feel safe to talk with strangers about my situation. No judgements were made."

"Connecting and being vulnerable with others in similar situations was very healing and improved my mood."

Your donation helps us turn this vision into reality. Every contribution brings us closer to a space where everyone can feel supported, heard, and understood.

Donating is really simple and secure. The money will directly go to THE NEW NORMAL CHARITY LIMITED.