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45
the alternative of giving treatment to housebound old
people by taking them to clinics in ambulances does not
commend itself to me.
The Ealing Borough Council have given a grant to
cover the existing service until March, 1961, but it is
anticipated that thereafter the County Council scheme will
be functioning and the need for a grant from the Borough
Council will cease,
OLD PEOPLE'S WORK CENTRES
There are two Work Centres in the Borough organised
by the Ealing Committee for the Employment and Recreation
of Elderly Citizens,
At present there are 40 workers at the West Ealing
Centre and 25 at the Greenford Centre, The South West
Middlesex Hospital Management Committee are negotiating
for the use of the Drill Hall as a temporary out-patients
department during building operations at King Edward
Memorial Hospital. This would necessitate alternative
accommodation for this Centre and various approaches have
been made. It is hoped to increase the numbers of workers
gradually but there are limiting factors, the two most
important of these being the need to find more voluntary
helpers to supervise the work and the ever present difficulty
of finding suitable work.
Northolt Workshop
In January it was decided that a third workshop should
be opened in Northolt so that the old people living in that
area could benefit from this scheme. Various sites were
visited and it was decided that the Northolt Memorial
Hall was the most suitable. The Trustees of the Memorial
Hall were approached with a request that the Council be
allowed to administer the Trust and grant a lease to the
Ealing Committee for the Employment and Recreation of
Elderly Citizens. It is hoped that alterations can be
made and the Workshop opened early next year,
HOLIDAYS FOR OLD PEOPLE
During the year holidays for old people were arranged
by the Womens Voluntary Service and the Greenford Philanthropic
Society. The Womens Voluntary Service party consisted
of 240 old people who were taken to Bexhill-on-Sea
for one week's holiday. The Greenford Philanthropic
Society party numbered 45 old people, who were taken in
two parties, for a week's holiday to Ramsgate.