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The grants to the following have been increased since 1919, that
of St. Luke's from £150 to £350, of the United Girls' School Settlement
from £150 to £350, of the Nunhead Centre from £200 to £300,
of the Cambridge House from £150 to £250, and that of the Bird-in-
Bush Centre from £187 10s. to £-300. The grant to the Peckham
Day Nursery was not renewed, but one of £50 for the Cheltenham
College Day Nursery was sanctioned.
There is no change to report in the way of provision of lying-in
homes beyond the three mentioned below, which are designed for
the reception of unmarried mothers—-The Moorings, Champion Park;
Home of Hope, Grove Lane; 24, De Crespigny Park ; and also the
Home of Help, Camberwell Grove, for the mother and her infant.
Although no other provision has as yet been made, several homes
were surveyed, but for one reason or another were not considered
suitable.
The nursing arrangements are not carried out by the Borough
Council direct, but by the various nursing associations, or else by
nurses who are connected with one or other of the philanthropic
agencies in the Borough, and by arrangement with Bermondsey it
is possible to secure attendance in a small district which is not
covered by the above agencies.
The amount expended for the year was £104 16s. 4d., but prejudice
against a nurse's help I fear still lasts, and usually exists in
homes where they are most needed. This will in time, when the
people at large have come to recognise their value, no doubt
disappear.
There were 14 notifications of puerperal fever, compared with
20 in 1920, with 9 deaths, as opposed to 8 in the previous year.
Ophthalmia neonatorum has already been referred to.
HOUSING.
During 1921 progress was made in improving the housing
conditions in the Borough. It cannot be urged too strongly that
proper accommodation in this regard is the surest way to reduce
mortality, both infantile and general, and only one thing takes
precedence ; this being proper and sufficient nourishment. All others
come a long way behind these, and it is on food and housing first,
second and last on which reliance will have to be placed, and I feel
sure that any administration which concentrates on these two will
reap the greatest reward. During the year the Casino Estate
and ground in Nunhead have been utilized, the former being
completed in December, 1921, and the latter in September, 1921.
Much, however, remains to be done in the provision of accommodation,
perhaps simpler and less ornate in character, but so far as rent
is concerned at a level to suit the pockets of the "bottom dog."
An advance in the way of provision for this class is seen in
Hampton's Avenue, which was the subject of anxious and careful
consideration by the Housing Committee. At the end of 1920
matters indeed seemed to have reached a deadlock; the owners