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A full-time day centre for 40 mentally ill pateints has been opened in Camberwell
and a part-time centre in Lewisham for 12 patients. The centres provide sheltered
occupation for those either unable or not yet ready to work in open industry; day to day
activities are organised by a senior occupational therapist. A full time centre has been
planned for Lewisham. Similar centres have been planned for subnormal persons who are
too old or unsuitable for the existing training centres. Evening clubs have been commenced
for the mentally ill meeting weekly.
' Honor Lea’ purpose built hostel for chronic mentally ill patients, able to work or
attend a day centre, opened in Lewisham in September 1964. It is run by an experienced
warden, an ex-mental nurse, and caters for 59 residents of both sexes. A full time
trained social worker is attached to the hostel and it is hoped to develop various social
activities for the residents, with the aid of a local church group who have shown great
interest in the hostel.
An important part of the community care service is that dealing with the educationally
subnormal and maladjusted school-leavers. In addition to the normal social work, plans
have been made with one of the local (Camberwell) University Settlements for two clubs
to be opened, one for E.S.N. school children, the other for E.S.N. school-leavers. A number
of maladjusted teenagers will be absorbed by the latter, which will be run by one of the
trained workers at the Settlement together with voluntary helpers. Two clubs for lower
grade teenage subnormal boys and girls in Lewisham have been organised by the Lewisham
Branch of the National Association for Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children and by a
local church minister.
A recent venture has been the work in liaison with the Camberwell Centre in an
experimental scheme on the lines of the Samaritans, whereby six voluntary workers who
have had a certain amount of training in mental illness are asked to visit selected clients
regularly in order to support and befriend them.
During the four years liaison has been built up with the local catchment area mental
hospitals. Weekly case conferences have been held at the Maudsley hospital and monthly
conferences with Bexley and Cane Hill hospitals. Recently the divisional mental health
social worker has been invited to attend the two-monthly conferences held at Goldie
Leigh, the children's unit of Darenth Park hospital for the severely subnormal.
Dover Lodge, the hostel for subnormal working girls, has built up a good average
number of girls and the deputy divisional mental health social worker attends regularly
as the social worker and helps them to find work in the district.
An interesting development has been the practical work placing of students with the community
care service. Students from the University of Manchester mental health course
have spent two months in the division, a Nottingham University Social Science student six
weeks and students from the National Institute for Social Work Training and the Northwestern
Polytechnic ' Younghusband ' courses have been placed for five months.
Overall the picture has been one of a community care service gradually expanding and
taking a definite shape.
DIVISION 8, comprising the boroughs of Bermondsey, Lambeth and Southwark
Dr. W. H. S. Wallace reports:
Maternity and child welfare—The maternity and child welfare centres taken over from
the boroughs in 1948 were of different types and quality. Most of the centres in Lambeth
had been under voluntary control, many centres were in unsatisfactory premises and new
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