Apply for aid
The current amount of monthly support is £380, and the number of months of support is equivalent to the number of months in custody (including remand).
Eligibility
Those incarcerated and their family members are eligible to apply for financial assistance from this fund, including:
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Parents (can be replaced by foster parents or guardians)
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Spouse
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Children
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Siblings
Each household of the incarcerated person can only designate one representative to apply. Multiple applications or applications from ineligible family members will not be accepted.
If none of the aforementioned persons can assist the incarcerated person in applying for this support program, the incarcerated person's representative should contact us directly.
Important reminder
The aid can only be accepted and received through a bank account outside of Hong Kong.
If you are unable to apply with an overseas account, please contact us and we will do our best to assist you.
Required documents
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Personal identification document (ID card or passport copy only)
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Proof of the prisoner's identity˚
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Proof of relationship˚
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Proof of address within the last three months
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Telegram username of an important contact person
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Certification of Trial (issued by the Correctional Services Department)
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Relevant news report in PDF format
˚ If the application is not submitted by the person in custody
*The applicant can also provide other relevant economic assistance eligibility proof to the fund for reference.
Please name the documents as
"Application for Bonham Tree Aid + (Name of the Applicant Representative in English)"
E.g. Application for Bonham Tree Aid (Mary Chan)
Note
Please rename each attachment according to the item. You do not need to include any text in parenthesis
e.g. 'Issued by the Correctional Services Department
Please note the file size limit of the selected email service. Protonmail and Gmail's free versions have a capacity limit of 25MB. To ensure privacy and personal security, it is recommended to use Protonmail and a VPN.
Application approval
On the last Sunday of each month, at 1500 UK time (2200 Hong Kong time), the application deadline will be closed. The closing time will be based on the timestamp on the actual email. BTA will sort the applications based on the actual sentence length from long to short. For remanded persons, the actual sentence will be replaced by two-thirds of the longest sentence in the charged case.
If the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, the length of the sentence for similar cases will be used instead, and the legal advisor of the foundation has absolute decision-making power.
Applicants will be given priority if they can provide the following proofs:
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Certificate of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA)
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Registration Card for People with Disabilities
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Disability Allowance
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Other related financial assistance certifications
Applications that are not approved for qualification will be processed together with next month's applications, and the sorting principle remains the same as above.
Approval results will be sent to the applicant before the end of the month.
Results notification
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We will notify successful applicants by replying to their application email. Due to extremely limited manpower, the processing time for each application may vary, so please be patient.
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Successful applicant representatives are required to provide a European bank account for receiving the living assistance funds.
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The monthly funding limit is HKD 9,000 or the equivalent in other currencies, with a minimum of HKD 3,000 or the equivalent in other currencies. After deducting bank transfer fees and exchange rate differences, the final amount received may vary.
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The applicant representative or important contact person must provide accurate responses to the Foundation regarding the receipt of funds and the release dates of incarcerated members in the first month and every six months thereafter. If no response is received, the Foundation reserves the right to terminate funding at any time, and the actual contact and inquiry time will be adjusted according to the situation.
Detailed terms and conditions will be sent to the applicant/ representative after approval.
Your safety is our priority
Do not use your personal email address to communicate with BTA. If you do not wish to receive information from the fund, you may provide an invalid email address.
We strongly recommend that you apply for a new or use an existing ProtonMail account to receive receipts and information.