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110
family, and secondly, to enable a parent to enter sanatorium. A
mother naturally hesitates to accept the offer of sanatorium
treatment until she has made suitable provisions for her children.
In certain cases she is able to do this by placing them with
relatives or friends, but in other instances no adequate arrangements
can be made for their proper care and attention during
her absence, and were it not for the boarding-out scheme the
mother would be compelled to refuse institutional treatment.
The majority of the children are boarded-out with registered
foster mothers, but delicate children and babies who require a
certain medical supervision are placed in nursing homes in the
country or at the seaside. Where the household is badly infected,
children may be boarded-out for considerable periods, sometimes
extending to years. Parents are not required to make any
contribution towards a child's maintenance but may do so if they
wish. The scheme has now been in existence since 1925, and is a
praiseworthy attempt to solve a very difficult problem. Although
more mothers are now persuaded to allow their children to be
boarded-out than formerly, it surprises me that still so many
refuse. This is partly due to parent's reluctance to surrender a
child to a home they have never seen and which, for obvious
reasons, they are discouraged from visiting, but not entirely so,
as difficulty is frequently experienced in obtaining sanction for
admission to a convalescent home.
The Handicraft Class, organised by the Hackney and Stoke
Newington Tuberculosis Care Committee, continues its useful
work. The main object of the Class is to provide patients with
an interest to occupy their minds and keep them from brooding
over their condition. Among the crafts taught are basket work,
artificial flower making, glove making, leather, bead and pewter
work, and as any profits on the sale of the articles are paid over
to the patients, it enables them to earn a little pocket money.
The Class is deservedly popular and well attended, and thanks
to the assistance of the Alexandra Rose Day Fund, the Inner
Wheel of the Rotary Club and other local bodies, and the support
and interest of the Mayors of Hackney and Stoke Newington,
is in a sound financial position. As hitherto, our main difficulty
lies in the sale of the goods, and further local support in this
direction would be appreciated by the Committee.
We are indebted to the Mayor and Borough Council of Stoke
Newington for permission to hold an Exhibition and Sale at
the Mayor's Gallery, last October. We are also grateful to
Mrs. Jefferies for kindly opening the Exhibition, and to the
Mayor of Stoke Newington for taking the Chair.
The public authorities continue to supply extra nourishment
to necessitous cases of tuberculosis, the Public Assistance Committee