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54
Staff.
Mrs. Clewer is in charge of the catering arrangements, assisted by a
staff of 12 helpers, of whom four or five are on duty each Tuesday and
Thursday. Their services are given voluntarily, and Mrs. Clewer's record—
extending over a period of 22 years without break or intermission, even during
the trying times of the London Blitz—is an outstanding example of long and
faithful voluntary service.
Premises and Equipment.
One large L-shaped underground room, of which the floor is 7 ft. 9 in.
below ground level, serves as a combined kitchen, dining room and washing-up
room. It is approximately 404 sq. ft. in area, and forms part of the basement
of the Town Hall.
The equipment, arranged along three walls, comprises kitchen range,
gas stove, deep glazed sinks (two), heated container, cupboard for crockery
and cupboard for utensils.
On the floor are arranged three rather rough wooden tables covered by
linoleum, which is discoloured and shabby. On these tables the meals are
served.
The premises are entered by a stairway from the ground floor of the
Town Hall; a second stairway, which could be used as an emergency exit,
is blocked with furniture.
Although the equipment and utensils are far from being in accord with
approved modern kitchen usage, they do not contravene the requirements of
Section 13 of the Food and Drugs Act except in two respects to which reference
is made later.
General Observations.
The arrangements began as a pioneering charitable effort some 22 years
ago. There can be no doubt regarding the need for the service, which brings
into the lives of so many old people a measure of much-needed nourishment,
comfort and hope; nor can there be any doubt of the need for modernisation
and extension of the service.
Mrs. Clewer and her band of voluntary workers have carried out a most
beneficent work; but it should be realised that the equipment and utensils
with which they have had to "make-do" in the past have served their day
and generation, and that an effort should now be made to supply the old
people with nourishing meals, cooked in a modern kitchen and served in a
separate dining room under conditions approximating to those expected in a
modern catering establishment.
It is contended that the kitchen is run on more homely lines than is a
commercial establishment, and that many old people prefer it that way; but
homeliness is no bar to hygienic propriety, nor can it be regarded as a material
factor in the prevention of food-poisoning.
I submit hereunder certain recommendations designed to abate or
prevent the occurrence of nuisance or contravention of the provisions of the
Food and Drugs Act, but it should be realised that compliance with these
recommendations will not convert the present makeshift arrangements into
those of an approved modern catering establishment.