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25
The venture has undoubtedly been an unqualified success to date,
and it is to be hoped that it will not be long before another workshop is
opened elsewhere in the Borough so that others may take advantage
of the scheme.
There was maximum membership of the Gaytime and Rendezvous
clubs maintained over the year, and the club for the handicapped increased
its membership to 24 with an average attendance of 22 at each
meeting. The clubs again had a number of outings during the year,
including visits to various well known factories.
A garden at the rear of Burnt Ash Centre has been laid out and a
strip of ground has been set aside for members interested in gardening.
The meals service for club members continued, but as with The
Saville arrangements were being made towards the end of the year for
the meals to be prepared on the premises and this was put into effect
at the beginning of 1965.
(c) Holidays for the elderly
Off peak holidays for elderly people were again arranged by the
Health Department. The cost of a holiday for an elderly person remained
on the same terms as in 1963 which was fully explained in the annual
report of that year. The number of holidays arranged was 462 and the
number taken was 414, the same as in 1963.
(d) Laundry
During the year 53,351 articles of laundry of incontinent elderly
people were dealt with at the Disinfecting Station as compared with
51,948 articles in 1963, an increase of 1,403 articles.
(e) Bathing attendants
The domiciliary bathing and cleansing of usually frail and bedridden
old people carried out by the bathing attendants under the
direction and supervision of the Ranyard Nurses is an expanding
service, and by the end of the year three female bathing attendants and
one male were employed in this service. The number of cleansings and
bathings carried out during the year were 5,668 as compared with 1,286
in 1963.
(f) S.47
S.47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948 as amended by the
National Assistance (Amendment) Act, 1951, allows application to be
made to a justice of the peace or a magistrate's court for an order for the
compulsory removal of an old person from his home in certain very
limited circumstances to a place of safety where the old person can
receive proper care and attention. In 1964 although several cases were
investigated in no case was it necessary to use compulsory procedure.