(18 November 2014 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, has always encouraged employees to participate in volunteer work. The Company has held its first “2013-2014 Outstanding Volunteers and Volunteer Stars Selection Contest” earlier in recognition of its outstanding volunteers. The three “Volunteer Stars” selected were arranged to visit Hong Kong with a mission to promote friendship between Hong Kong and China volunteer teams, and to further advocate the volunteering spirit of “participation, solidarity, dedication and enthusiasm” in order to encourage more employees to participate in volunteer work.

The Company has officially established the NWDS volunteer team in April 2013. The team has now expanded into a scale of over 2,300 people and has organized over 460 volunteer activities covering services such as education, elderly care, helping under-privileged groups, environmental protection and assisting the disabled. Its work has received full support from the community and cooperation partners. To celebrate the first anniversary of NWDS volunteer team, the Company has held its first “2013-2014 Outstanding Volunteers and Volunteer Stars Selection Contest” from August to October 2014 to recognize its outstanding volunteers who have actively participated in volunteer activities organized by the Company.

After a stringent and layered selection process based on criteria such as the number of service hours and service frequency carried out by stores, regional and headquarter offices, the Company’s very first Volunteer Stars were finally selected. They are Ms Yu Xiao Ri from Dalian New World Department Store, Ms He Yi from Wuhan New World Trendy Plaza and Ms Zhang Ning from Ningbo New World Department Store, who rendered voluntary service of over 150 hours in total last year which is equivalent to about four hours per month. With the belief of “giving is better than receiving”, three Volunteers Stars think that apart from helping people in need, volunteering can enhance one’s personal integrity. For instance, many young volunteers have learned to care more for their loved ones after participating in elderly care activities. The Company especially arranged them an exchange tour to Hong Kong to take part in the “NWDS Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon 2014”, which the Company has title-sponsored for the first time, together with volunteers from Hong Kong Office to help distributing snacks and taking photos for runners at the finishing point. This charitable event has provided a precious opportunity for them to establish friendship and to help raising fund to promote education in rural regions in Mainland China, making their volunteer journey a meaningful and unforgettable one.

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “Throughout these 20 years, our staff has taken countless initiatives to organize visits to the elderly, children and migrant children. Through community services such as making dumplings, house cleaning and schoolwork tutorials, we have built up a strong bond with the community. We are very proud that NWDS volunteer team’s enthusiasm in community service is in line with the Company’s philosophy of ‘giving back to society’. Through this contest, we hope to acknowledge the hard work and contribution of our volunteers and to encourage more volunteer team members to continue to spread the message of love, influencing more colleagues and their friends and families to participate in volunteer work. With a stronger and bigger volunteer team, we hope that more people in need in society can be benefitted.”

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