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118
Nutritional Exhibition at St. Quintin Welfare Centre.
From 12th to 19th April, 1967, an exhibition was arranged at
St. Quintin Welfare Centre, Kingsbridge Road, W.10., under the theme of
"Your Food and You". The aim was to help mothers in the neighbourhood
in the preparation of wholesome meals and in the proper use of cooking
appliances. Emphasis was laid on the need for food cleanliness and the
personal hygiene of all involved in its preparation. Food safety,
storage, the keeping qualities of food, adequacy of diets and housekeeping
were also dealt with. Valuable assistance was rendered by
bodies outside the Council's service, who provided speakers and
demonstrations supplementing the stands prepared departmentally.
Demonstrations were given by the London Electricity Board and North
Thames Gas Board, and students from the Department of Home Economics
at Isleworth Polytechnic gave talks on nutritional matters. Voluntary
organisations in the borough were approached and asked to inform their
members of the exhibition and encourage them to visit it.
A particularly interesting part of the exhibition was a display
provided by the public health inspectors dealing with means of
preserving food apart from the refrigerator and, as a warning, showing
samples of blown food in cans.
The exhibition was publicised by posters in the vicinity of the
Centre, but the attendance was not as good as could have been wished.
Health education on this subject was carried out throughout the
borough at the same time, and some of the individual display stands
were subsequently shown at other welfare centres.
Home Safety Campaign.
In support of the continuing effort of the department, an
intensive campaign was held at the outset of winter and was given
particular emphasis in North Kensington, where much old property in
multiple occupation by an immigrant and transitory population makes
a campaign of this type an annual necessity because of the ever
present risk of fire and other accidents in the home. This campaign
dealt comprehensively with home risks, e.g., those from poison, the
misuse of electricity, gas and oil heaters, falls, etc.
An exhibition van toured the borough with a programme of short
films and a health visitor to talk to audiences, deal with points
raised and distribute suitable leaflets. All fieldworkers in the
department, when entering homes in the course of their duty, look for
obvious dangers and discuss them with the householders, laying
emphasis on the fact that the majority of accidents are due to falls,
either off chairs or over obstructions or through defective floor
covering.
An exhibition, presented at Lancaster Road Welfare Centre, was
well attended, particularly by parents living in the locality and by
parties of school children. "Kiss of Life" resuscitation demonstrations
arranged by the British Red Cross Society formed part of it,
and proved extremely popular.
It is impossible to assess any direct effect, but there is no
doubt that the campaign brought home to many people, especially to
those living in North Kensington, the ever present danger of accidents
in the home.