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Advantage is also taken of our services by Health Visitors and
Hospital Students in accordance with their various curricula.
Voluntary Help and Friendly Visiting, etc.
Although voluntary service finds form in various ways it surely
is concerned with compassion, a sense of purpose, personal involvement
and dedication to a cause.
Such service can be said to originate in three different ways.
Firstly, it can stem from personal encounter with someone with
a self-evident difficulty; secondly, by joining an organisation which
has objectives evoking sympathy, it can provide an outlet for
unused talents and, thirdly, by donations to world causes, a sense
of involvement can be generated in some of the wider issues of life.
Of greatest value to local authorities is the individual who is not
only able to recognise these divisions but is also possessed of such
a personality as to be capable of harnessing, for the benefit of its
residents, the abundance of goodwill which undoubtedly exists
in the community.
Since the establishment of 'Task Force" in the area during
1968, much of the individual voluntary effort in respect of aged
persons has declined. Nevertheless, there are several voluntary
bodies such as the B.R.C.S., W.R.V.S. and various church organisations
working within the Borough with whom the department
maintains close and constant contact.
For example, among the many duties undertaken by the B.R.C.S.
in respect of the elderly is the efficient management of their home
for geriatric patients at the "Gables", Blackheath Park, and their
convalescent home at St. John's Park. Both are of inestimable
value to the Directorate in their services to the elderly.
A perusal of the W.R.V.S. Annual Report for 1969 reveals
that, in Greenwich, inter alia, they are responsible for 14 old
people's clubs, one afternoon and one lunch club; they distribute
welfare foods, supply escorts for outings and holidays arranged
by the Council, provide a trolley shop at one old people's home
and clothing and bedding for the elderly homebound. Veritably
a very present help in trouble.
Task Force
Referrals to "Task Force" by the Community Care Branch (and
other sources in the area with similar health and welfare aims) are
given in the accompanying tables together with results as known.
These statistics do not represent the total work undertaken by
"Task Force" but only those in respect of cases falling within the
scope of this department.