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their own homes. Of those assisted, some were awaiting admission to hospital but others, with the help
of the service, were able to continue to be cared for at home. Certain of the cases require to be dealt
with for short periods only, while others need assistance for a long time.
St. Marylebone Old People's Welfare Association.—The Executive Committee of the Association
(Chairman—Mrs. L. Fewster ; Hon. Secretary—Miss M. K. C. Macintosh, Room 103, Town Hall,
St. Marylebone, W.l) has kindly provided the following information of the work carried out during
1953:—
The year was marked for the Association by three outstanding features—the Coronation ;
the initiation of the Borough Council's assisted holidays scheme for old age pensioners; and our
Flag Day in September.
Coronation Festivities.—All over the country the old people enjoyed special consideration in the
general rejoicing over the Coronation. St. Marylebone was no exception to the rule. All the
seven "Darby and Joan" Clubs had Coronation teas and coach tours to see the decorations.
In addition, members of the Executive Committee provided coaches for 90 of the more infirm
old people who do not belong to clubs to drive round the Coronation route. Twenty of the more
mobile were guests of the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square to watch the all-day television on
Coronation Day. The Borough Council invited all the more needy old age pensioners to see the
Technicolour film "A Queen is Crowned." Volunteers from the Association did the clerical work
involved in sending out the 1,700 invitations and acted as additional ushers and usherettes at
the two performances. We were most grateful to the Area Officer of the National Assistance
Board for help in preparing the list of guests and for placing a room at the disposal of our
addressing parties.
Food Parcels.—These lists were again useful later in the year in the Mayor's two distributions
of food parcels most generously sent to him as gifts for our old people in Coronation year. In
October there were 480 from the Premier of Victoria, Australia. In December there were 1,000
from the United States. These came too late for Christmas but were distributed in January by
the Mayor and Mayoress. A band of volunteers from the Association helped on this occasion,
reinforced by Red Cross Cadets, the St. Marylebone Sea Scouts, and the boys of the St. Marylebone
Grammar School.
Assisted Holidays.—The Borough Council made a grant of £200 to the Association for this purpose
and were so well satisfied with our administration of the scheme that the grant is to be repeated
in 1954. We hope that it will become a permanent feature of the Borough's provision for its older
citizens. Our aim is to stretch the grant as far as it will go for the benefit of those who have not
been able to afford a holiday for many years, or who need a change for reasons of health but
have not had a definite illness such as would bring them within the scope of the recuperative
holiday scheme of the London County Council. The Borough Council's grant assisted eighty-five
old age pensioners in 1953. The main body of sixty-six went to Brighton for a week. For the
others individual arrangements were made, varying from paying their fares for visits to relatives
to helping with the cost of a stay at a special guest house for the infirm. The old people themselves
contributed £1 10s. Od. each, and the collection of their weekly instalments kept our office very
busy all through the early spring. In December our Hon. Secretary attended a conference at
Brighton at which hoteliers from the Sussex seaside resorts met the secretaries of old people's
welfare committees which organise holiday schemes. From her report we were satisfied that the
St. Marylebone scheme, although small in comparison with those of some other boroughs, is on
the right lines.
The Wider Aim.—In addition to promoting the welfare of our own old people, it is one of the chief
aims of the Association to keep its members in touch with the general movements of thought on
the subject. Our representatives sit on the Home Nursing Voluntary Committee for our Division
of the Central Council of District Nursing, and on the London County Council Central Consultative
Committee for the Welfare of Old People. They have given us interesting reports on the
deliberations of these two bodies. Delegates from the Association attended the annual conference
of the latter in June and also the annual conference for Greater London held by the Old People's
Committee of the London Council of Social Service in October, at which the main subjects were
housing for old people and the further employment of the elderly. During the year we had an
interesting report on the Finsbury Old People's Workshop. We had been asked to investigate
the desirability of starting a similar scheme in St. Marylebone, but we decided that, however
admirable in itself, a scheme which incurs a loss of £1,000 a year in the employment of only sixty
people was beyond our scope.
New Interests : Road Safety.—We have this year turned our attention to the question of road
safety for old people, following reports from our representatives who attended a conference on
the subject held by the Pedestrians' Association in March. We believe that old people should