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21
The Old People's Workshop which is run in conjunction
with the Hampstead Old People's Welfare Association provides
in a limited way for these unfortunate people. It provides paid
work so as to maintain the morale of the old person and it also
provides that companionship which was available when they were
at work and which disappeared when they retired; it is limited in
that it can provide for only a limited number of the elderly. The
Workshop in Hampstead has increased by having an afternoon
session as well as a morning session and there are hopes of
opening another workshop which will serve the eastern side of
the Borough. It is encouraging to note that a number of persons
who have been employed at the Workshop have managed, after a
while, to find re-employment in outside businesses.
There are many difficulties in continuing the employment
of old people. There must be opportunity for promotion or
advancement for the younger people; there are in many cases
nationally agreed rates of pay for certain jobs irrespective of
the employees capabilities; not all elderly people are prepared
to continue working for the same firm for a lower wage even at
an easier job. Some firms do provide schemes and the National
Insurance Act gives a limited incentive by providing for a higher
retirement pension if people continue to work after the normal
retiring age, but it would seem that in this age when mechanical
power has so lessened the importance of physical strength that
some greater effort should be made to provide that skills which
have been acquired over many years should not be wasted merely
because a person reaches a fixed age-to the mutual benefit of
the community and the individual.
In spite of what has been said above there are comparatively
few elderly persons who are in need of the services which
the local authority can provide. The great majority can look
after themselves or are given the necessary care by their own
relatives or friends. The Borough Council has very limited
powers and its main function is to ensure that the old people are
made aware of the services which are available, such as
domestic help or "meals on wheels" or alternatively, that bodies
providing these services are informed of the old person's need.
The aim of all these services is, of course, to try and
make it possible for the old people to remain in their own homes
rather than be admitted to a hospital or an old persons home.
"Meals on wheels" , the district nurses and the general medical