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elderly people known to the department received a parcel although,
inevitably, a few persons in this category and not on the Council's
lists were missed. However, information supplied by the volunteer
distributors in respect of the latter persons has proved extremely
useful and they were subsequently visited by Public Health Officers.
The success of the scheme was due in no small measure to the
help given by the voluntary distributors of the food parcels and
they were all thanked personally by the Mayor for their efforts.
In addition to the Mayor's scheme, names of many other
suitable recipients were given on request to various factory groups,
schools and voluntary organisations who themselves arranged for
the distribution of their own Christmas gifts.
Carol Services for elderly people were held at St. Luke's
Church, Charlton, and at St. Alfege Church, Greenwich, on afternoons
preceding Christmas, refreshments after each service being
provided by voluntary organisations.
Many Christmas Parties were arranged in the Borough for
elderly and handicapped people by local organisations.
With the aid of a grant from the Mayor's Fund, a large supply
of bagged fuel was purchased for issue to elderly persons who,
during bad weather, had no heating resulting from the non-delivery
of a fuel order.
In addition to the aforementioned work which was coordinated
by the Council's voluntary welfare liaison officer, much
other voluntary work came to the notice of the Department which
had been carried out independently of this scheme.
Friendly Visiting, etc.
Some 290 old people were receiving calls from voluntary
visitors, reporting directly to the department. In addition, seven
school groups, fourteen church groups and five other voluntary
bodies were also co-operating in this visiting scheme. Such visitors
often spend considerable time with the elderly people and are able
to report immediately to the department Should something be
amiss.
During 1964 a visiting group of the National Old People's
Welfare Council carried out a survey in selected areas of the
country, including the Woolwich area. The object of the survey
was to find out what were the ingredients of a good visiting service
for the elderly. The report noted that in this area the Council were
sponsoring a number of services, making use of voluntary
personnel and aiming to bring most of the services for the elderly
under one umbrella. Inter-change of voluntary helpers between all
the services was particularly noted, as was the fact that voluntary