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72
Notes by the senior health visitors on the work at the Centres.
Bessborough Street:—
The work of the Centre was carried on during 1937 on the same lines as in former
years, except that the usual programme of demonstrations and films could not be
arranged owing to the uncertainty as to the date of opening of the new Centre.
This long looked for event, the culmination of the hopes and expectations of many
years, took place on Thursday, 25th November. By Monday, 29th November, we
were fully installed in the new premises, and the ordinary activities of the Centre
were in full operation.
We still find many families are moving out and others moving into this area.
A number of those who move to outlying districts return after a year or two to
Westminster and resume attendance at the Centre.
There is a continued demand for the new up-to-date flats which have sprung up
in our midst and which have proved such a boon to families who have long endured
the inconveniences of tenement houses.
We look forward to a year of increased activity and progress in all matters relating
to the well-being of our mothers and their infants and young children.
Ebury Bridge:—
The ordinary work of the Centre has been carried on as usual, despite changes in
staff and new developments.
Changing times and conditions have brought great alterations in the type of
family resident in the Ebury Bridge area.
The comparative scarcity of unemployment in the City has brought many
families from the distressed areas to settle in the locality.
In addition to these immigrants from afar, many families from overcrowded or
unsatisfactory dwellings in other parts of the City have been moved into the City
Council's new flats at Ebury Bridge.
The effect of these changes became more pronounced in 1937, and gave additional
interest to the social side of the work.
The working-class families resident in the area can be divided into three distinct
groups:—
(1) The old residential families, born, educated, employed and married in
the City.
(2) The Army families stationed at Hyde Park and Chelsea Barracks for the
regulation stay, and often returning after periods at other Military
towns.
(3) The immigrant families from the distressed and other areas.
An outstanding feature of the year's work has been the increasing number of
young mothers attending the Centre who themselves attended as infants. In one
instance, an "old" mother brought successively three of her daughters, and two
daughters-in-law to the Centre. At the end of 1937, two members of this family
were attending the ante-natal clinic.