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This issue we are pleased to report that the establishment of a Service Development Network for employment and other work options, mentioned in A life in the day, issue 3.4, is much nearer to becoming a reality. The aim of the Network is to support the development of effective vocational services for people with mental health problems. Network membership will include government agencies, NHS Trusts, local authorities, user organisations, local MIND groups and other independent sector providers — anyone who wants to create or commission effective local employment support services.

This article summarises the findings of the Care Programme to Work Project and describes some of the publications that it has produced. Care Programme to Work was a three‐year action research project, funded by the Department of Health and based at the Institute for Applied Health and Social Policy, King's College London (1998‐2001). The basis of the project was a partnership between the Institute, the London Borough of Sutton, Sheffield Community Health, and Manchester Health Authority.

The issues discussed in this article will be familiar to everyone struggling to deinstitutionalise sheltered workshops. The solutions being developed — social firms, supported employment — are also well known. But can they flourish in the very special situation of the new Hong Kong? Now part of the People's Republic of China, the former colony is still sitting between East and West, capitalism and communism, and is also in the throes of a very sharp recession. Lindsay Barker, Stephen Cheung and Petrus Ng tell the story so far and then look at what the future might hold for this fledgling revolution. Bob Grove