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Sheltered Employment—In conjunction with the Ministry of
Labour, the Council provides this service to a small extent by
sponsoring and aiding 5 blind persons employed at workshops
conducted by voluntary societies but principally through the
Greenwich Workshops for the Blind. These workshops, situated
in two separate buildings—one in Greenwich High Road housing
the mattress and fend-off departments and one in Eastney Street
housing the basket department, are administered by the Department
and provide sheltered employment and training facilities for some
30 registered blind persons resident in London. There is a retail
shop for the manufactured articles but the main outlet is through
the United London Workshops for the Blind (Sales) Ltd., a nonprofit
making company on the directorate of which the Council is
represented by its Welfare Officer. Sales in 1965 totalled over
£26,000.
Manufacture of ships' fend-offs is a traditional riverside skill
of particular interest and our workshop, which was engaging in this
trade as far back as 1880, is one of the three remaining workshops
still practising this craft. Fend-offs are made entirely by hand and
range in size from 24 ft. bow fend-offs, through those measuring
5 ft. by 4 ft. (supplied to Trinity House) down to others 9 ins. by
5 ins. for use on small cabin cruisers.
Our existing workshop buildings are antiquated and unsuited to
present day manufacturing requirements and there are plans to
replace these with modern purpose-built premises. However, action
is held in abeyance pending the report of a Ministry of Labour
working party set up to consider the blind workshop needs for the
south-east area of London as a whole.
Blind Homeworkers—There is a scheme for the employment
of the blind in their own homes for which the department is responsible
and these homeworkers pursue a variety of trades, e.g. basket
making, machine knitting and even a retail grocery shop. Six such
homeworkers are directly supervised by the Royal National
Institute for the Blind.
Welfare of the Physically Handicapped
The following table gives a breakdown of the main conditions
registered with the department. It will be seen that rheumatism and
the disabilities associated with the rheumatic process, namely
rheumatoid arthritis and carditis, account for approximately 32%
of the total and it is also of significance that organic nervous
diseases constitute 35% of the total. The disabilities connected
with neurological lesions can be most crippling, but with skilled
assessments much can be done to minimise the handicaps.