The Hub centre reaches out to underprivileged Hong Kong children

For decades the Reverend Bill Crews has worked to help homeless and disadvantaged young people in his home country of Australia. Now, he has turned his attention to Hong Kong.

Crews, 69, was in Sham Shui Po last week to visit the new drop-in youth centre that he established with two Australian businessmen based in the city - David Boehm and Bruce Stinson.

Called The Hub, it is in a former church that underwent months of refurbishment before opening last July.

Crews, chairman of the Exodus Foundation in Australia, which provides shelter and assistance to the homeless, said the location of the centre was about providing help where it was most needed. "It was a shock when I first came to Sham Shui Po," he said, describing the contrast between the district and affluent areas of Hong Kong.

"The difference is staggering. You will find a family in a brand-new, expensive Mercedes-Benz driving past people who have nowhere to sleep but on the street; it's mind-blowing."

Last September, the government set the city's first official poverty line and identified 1.31 million citizens as living below it. Of this group, one in five children - or 208,800 youngsters - has been identified as poor.

The centre was established after a 2012 charity ball in Hong Kong to raise money for a programme helping street children in Bangkok, which was more successful than anticipated. Excess funds went to creating The Hub.