View report page

49
The Care Committee organised an American Sale in the Dispensary
garden, which added £58 17s. 11d. to the voluntary fund. The Lewisham
branch of the Red Cross also contributed £10 to the fund, which was earmarked
for ex-Service patients. Mr. Marshall, of the Lewisham Literary
Institute, kindly organised an entertainment, which added £16 13s. Od. to
the Care Committee fund.
With the help of this voluntary fund it was possible in September to
inaugurate a Handicrafts Class for 16 Dispensary patients, men and women
considered by the Tuberculos s Officer suitable physically and mentally to join
a class of this kind. The services of Miss Forth, an instructress on the
L.C.C. panel, were obtained for two hours each Monday morning for 12
weeks, and it was decided to choose leather work as the subject for tuition.
The pupils, under their very able and enthusiastic instructress, found the
work absorbingly interesting, and it has contributed largely to their mental
well-being. The London County Council gave the venture their cordial
approval and agreed to pay for the services of the instructress. The success
of the class has been largely due to the efforts of Miss Hone, a voluntary
member of the Care Committee, who worked out the details and found the
instructress, and who is herself a member of the class. The course is to
be continued next year.
The tuberculous ex-Service men living in the Borough are kept under
supervision at the Dispensary, and reports upon their condition are sent at
intervals to the Ministry of Pensions.
The following tables give a summary of the work carried out at the
Dispensary during the year :—