View report page

-81-
Meals on Wheels Service
For the Meals-on-Wheels service the Borough is divided into six
areas and each day six teams leave St. Alban's Hall to take hot meals
to those who otherwise would never have a hot meal. The value of this
work cannot be measured by numbers. The helpers observe as they serve.
They must not let themselves be long delayed, for each one has about
40 dinners to deliver. But they will get a message to a coal merchant.
They will even go back in the afternoon when they should be off duty
with a sack of coal in the back of a car and carry it upstairs themselves.
They will post a letter, phone a doctor. Sometimes they are
the first to come upon a final, lonely passing.
All this which is so precious in this service, can create a problem
because the right kind of workers are hard to find. We are fortunate
in Southwark and acknowledge with thanks all the extra services given
to the old people by our Meals-on-Wheels teams.
We also acknowledge with grateful thanks, the help of the W. V. S.
in this service. Every day a W. V.S. van and team arrive to help with
the distribution of these meals.
St. Alban's Restaurant
The Restaurant still plays a very big part in the lives of many
of the old age pensioners living in Southwark. Many out doing their
shopping will call in for a coffee and a chat with a friend. We feel
that if it is only used by some for morning coffee they are getting to
know us and will come to us when in difficulty. In fact, we have found
this so in many cases. Our numbers are again increasing after a temporary
decrease during the very severe winter weather.

Workshops for the Elderly
The scheme came into operation two years ago and has been slowly
but surely building up. At the beginning there were morning sessions
only, with eight to ten people working for two hours. As soon as more
work was available, afternoon sessions were started, also for two hours
and there are now twenty people working in the morning and twenty in the
afternoon. The work undertaken has varied from making boxes, labelling
bottles for chemicals, to stitching Christmas decorations and filling
envelopes' for a mail order firm. At times it is not easy to obtain offers