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also for looking after the building between 5.00 and 8.00 p.m.;
and the Group Organisation Standing Committee which is made
up of all group leaders, and whose function it is to evaluate and
support the group activities.
The membership has now reached well over 250 and the
members meet weekly in 22 groups. We are hoping to have more
new groups as we progress. All the groups are led by club members
who may or may not have been patients. An exception is
the Woodwork Group which is looked after by a paid leader.
The Groups are divided in the following activities:—
Social (games and social groups, teenage group).
Recreational (woodwork, fancy work and drama).
Occupational (dressmaking, handicraft, toy-making, woodwork
and art).
Therapeutics (woodwork and discussion groups).
In addition there are child-minding groups (part day) which look
after the under school-age children whilst their mothers attend
the groups. Some of our younger members attend in their own
right, and have been referred from the Child Guidance Clinic.
These children often benefit from a consistently firm but not
restrictive handling. The club is open between 10.00 a.m. and
10.00 p.m., and thus gives opportunities to working and nonworking
members to attend.
The members are referred to the club by our own Consultant
Psychiatrists working in the O.P. Clinics, by G.P.s, by Psychiatrists
and Social Workers from other hospitals, and by Social
Workers working with the local authorities and other voluntary
and statutory agencies. Various types of members are referred
to us, and a breakdown of attendances during the period April
1969 - March 1970 shows that out of 250 members who attend
the club at least once a month, there are 106 members who have
no psychiatric history whatsoever. The remaining members are
divided into the following categories:—
26 suffering from neuroses.
27 suffering from schizophrenic and schizo-affective states.
66 suffering from depression and/or anxiety.
9 suffering from personality disorders.
6 E.S.N.
10 others.
There is a predominance of women over men (ratio 196—54),
47% over the age of 40, 32% in age group 25-40, and 14%
under 25 years old. Depression seems to be more common in
the over 40 years age group. Male neurosis is prevalent in the
25 - 40 age group. There is no big difference in the male marital