Perry Fung came to the United Kingdom in 1998 for further study having worked for 10 years in clothing and commercial field in Hong Kong. He completed a BA (Hons.) degree in Textile Design at Bradford University in 1999 followed by a Master's Degree in Textile Technology at the University of Manchester graduating in 2000. After few months in the garment industry he decided to change his career and work with the Chinese community in London. He joined the Chinese Community Centre (CCC) as Administrative Officer in 2001 for 2 years then came back as Centre Manager in 2011 onwards.
Mr Fung also worked at Islington Chinese Association (ICA) as the Youth Service Manager between 2003 -2005 before being promoted to ICA Centre Manager in 2005. In the same year, 2005 ICA was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, for it's contribution to the local community. ICA is the only Chinese organisation in England to have be given such an honour. During his four years at the centre, he built up a strong youth group: Chinese Energetic Youth Enthusiasts (CEYE) with a membership of over 100. Young participants are provided with healthy alternative activities which keep them away from destructive addictions. Under his leadership, CEYE members aged between 12 and 28 successfully wrote, produced and performed the first ever bilingual musical "When Yellow River meets the Thames" & the second bilingual musical "Changing Fortune", both scripts serve to reflect the daily family life of the Chinese families living here in Britain, addressing issues such as generation gap, friends and sibling relationships. The musical dramas were successfully staged in theatres in London to audiences of over 400. This experience gave the young participants pride and a thought provoking platform to discuss these sensitive issues. Knowing that family problems cannot be tackled without parental involvement, he has also assisted some needy families in the community to re-build positive relationships through informative and practical parenting classes and individual consultation.
After leaving ICA, Mr Fung joined the Chinese Mental Health Association (CMHA) as a Project Manager in 2007. He has managed many different projects and provided professional and free services for the Chinese community. In his work with CMHA, he was more focused on the Chinese gambling problem in London and set up and led a professional counselling and support team. Once again, he worked very hard to achieve the qualification of Certified Gambling Counsellor awarded by the Canadian Council of Professional Certification (since the UK has no such recognized professional organisation presently). Since the launch of the Chinese Gambling Care Project, his team has helped more than 100 gamblers and their families to sort out their gambling addiction, debt management and other issues arising from this problem.
Mr Fung gave up a lucrative career to help Chinese youth along the rocky road to adulthood, but he harbours no regrets over grabbing this chance to turn young lives around. By sheer commitment he won the Mayor of Islington Civic Award in 2007. Mr Fung is also actively involved in voluntary work to the Chinese community: for instance he is the Founder and General Secretary of the United Kingdom Chinese Table Tennis Association (UKCTTA). Since 2002, he has annually prepared, planned and organised many different table tennis championships and tournaments. He is a county level player and a qualified coach so he also helps to train the beginner and intermediate level players and promote the sport of table tennis in the community. UKCTTA was one of the finalist in the Pearl Award in 2004 and Perry was awarded the English Table Tennis Association "Equality Award." in 2007. In addition, he is a qualified community interpreter and translator. Moreover, he is involved in Herald UK, a Christian Newspaper as a trustee and editor. He also won the 2010 Big Ben Award and the UK Ten Outstanding Chinese Young Persons Awards.
Perry Fung's interview is split into two parts. Part 1 is conducted in Cantonese whilst Part 2 is conducted in English and focuses on his role at the Chinese Community Centre.