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WELFARE OF THE AGED
The following is an extract from the Annual Report of Miss D.
Beer, A.I.S. W., Organising Secretary of the Southwark Old People's
Welfare Committee:-
"In presenting the Eleventh Annual Report of the Southwark
Old People's Welfare Committee for the year 1961-62, we are pleased
to show increased activity in every section of the work. More members
have been enrolled, more old people escorted singly or in groups
on organised holidays, more meals served in the restaurant and
through Meals-on-Wheels, and a new venture, the Workshops for the
Elderly scheme, has just completed its first year in operation.
We have received generous help from the Borough Council and we
should like to thank the Mayor, Councillor .Mrs. Waller, J.P.„ for
her unfailing interest in our progress. Once again we must thank
our M. P. and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Gunter, for their very active
support throughout the year.
We are proud to think that St. Alban's Hall has come to be a
kind of second home to so many old age pensioners; it is an integral
part of their lives and they enter into its activities with zest
and appreciation. For those who cannot share in the companionship
of their fellows because of illness or disability we are making a
special effort - to bring them a measure of happiness by bringing
them to St. Alban's Hall as often as possible and even taking them
to places of entertainment. Various schemes are on foot to help them
feel less out of the world and to relieve the frustration which
comes from disablement and loneliness; we have acquired a projector
and volunteers will show pictures of local and topical interest to
the homebound in their own rooms; we have the services of a hairdresser
one day a week and hope that it will be possible to expand
this service. But all this is wishful thinking unless we can enlist
the active and reliable help of more volunteers, especially for
transport.
We are very grateful for all the assistance received during
the past year from very many people. Among our new-found friends
are the members of the Lions' Club of Southwark, to whom we are profoundly
indebted, and we welcome their representation on our committee.