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173
During the year a successfully organised holiday was spent at
a large guest house at Cliftonville and several outings to places of
interest were undertaken.
Tunnel Avenue Industrial Training Centre
Opened on 12th May, 1969, this purpose-built Centre, designed
in accordance with general standards prescribed by the Ministry of
Health, caters for the training and daily work of 60 mentally handicapped
adults of 16 years and over.
Universally acknowledged as an excellent building, this Centre
is staffed by a manager and assistants with forward-looking ideas
concerning training. Certainly the installation of machinery has
made for an extension and variety of work and there is keen
competition among the trainees for permission to work the lathes,
fly presses and bench drills, etc. In this up-to-date workshop, built
to simulate real modern factory conditions, the trainee is confronted
with actual "working situations". Furthermore, the provision of a
classroom in this Centre enables organised instruction to be given
in such social subjects as money values, simple reading and word
recognition, personal cleanliness and neatness and, with the aid of
a beautician, girls are taught the discreet use of make-up.
In the main and with the closest of co-operation between our
Mental Health Services and those of the Education Authority, the
trainees are selected from among the "leavers" of E.S.N, schools
and it is our aim to assist each individual suffering from a mental
disability to make as good an adjustment to life as his/her own
particular position and circumstances will allow.
During the summer a holiday to Cliftonville was arranged and,
for the more active, walking holidays in the Lake District were
undertaken.
Ministry of Labour
There is normal co-operation with the local Disablement
Resettlement and Youth Employment Officers who, unfortunately
with little success, endeavour to place into employment subnormals
who, perforce, must therefore remain in the care of the Mental
Health Service. It would appear that more favourable results are
obtained by the direct approach to employers for, as problems
arise, they can be brought immediately to our notice.
Holidays
Under a scheme intended to cater for those who would otherwise
have no holiday, this year five Centre holidays were organised