View report page

36
Church Hall, of which club Mr. W. W. Hitching is the energetic
president. In certain of the other grant-aided clubs, however, such
facilities are not practicable.
The health department, during the year, continued to take a
detailed interest in the work for old people generally, and remained in
the closest possible touch with the Lewisham Old People's Welfare
Association. Thus, I was reelected the honorary medical adviser of the
association during the year; and in addition to providing office
accommodation, for a nominal sum, for the secretary, the department
lends clerical assistance from time to time when this can be spared, and
it also helps to keep the work of the association ticking over at times
when the secretary (who is the association's only full time officer) is
away on leave.
The Lewisham Old People's Welfare Association continued its
work during the year and that work expanded in nearly all directions.
During the year it became obvious that one of the early necessities was
the provision of more accommodation for old people, whether in flatlets
or otherwise, and a special subcommittee was eventually set up to
report and to make recommendations. The following are extracts from
the report of the secretary of the Association on the work during the year.
"The Office is now used extensively by an increasing number of
old people and their relatives, friends and neighbours, who come for
advice and help with their problems, and in addition cases are referred
by doctors, nurses, hospitals and other agencies in the Borough.
Where possible, cases are passed on to the appropriate agency for
action, but a great many are still left to be dealt with by the Office itself.
"The problems dealt with are many and varied, but the acute
shortage of suitable accommodation of all types is at the root of the
majority of the old people's troubles. It is almost impossible to get a
sick old person into hospital; there is a long waiting list of old people
of limited means who, though not sick, are still in need of Homes with
the provision of care and attention; and many of the more able bodied
old people could, with the assistance of a part-time home help, continue
to live as independent members of the community for a number of
years if only suitable accommodation were available for them.
"The Meals-on-wheels service has continued to serve dinners
to the more infirm old people in the borough. In July the old van
was replaced by a new one, smaller and much more economical to run.
The cost of the new van was almost entirely covered by two very
generous grants from the Alexandra Rose Day (£300) and the Lewisham
Parochial Trustees (£100). A further grant of £300 has since been
received from the Alexandra Rose Day Fund towards the cost of a
second van, which has been on order since last August. The present
van, delivering an average of about 144 dinners a week, is working
almost to capacity and the demand for dinners would increase if we
were able to deliver more often than once a week to each old person.
In addition, LOPWA gives financial help and makes arrangements
for holidays for old age pensioners who could not otherwise afford
them. One of the greatest causes of unhappiness however amongst
old people is loneliness, which clearly is greater if the old person is