View report page

90
exhibition was a coach-load of blind persons from the Borough.
At the beginning of 1968, the R.N.I.B. issued a greetings card
and gift voucher worth £1 to every blind individual. Many blind
persons in the Borough used their voucher to off-set the cost of a
piece of apparatus or a game purchased from the Institute.
Kent Association for the Blind
The local voluntary organisation for the blind and partially
sighted in this area is the Kent Association for the Blind. This
Association, based at Maidstone, always remembers the needs of
the blind and partially sighted, who live in North West Kent. The
department enjoys a very happy working relationship with the
officials of the Association. A high proportion of the blind and
partially sighted in the London Borough of Bromley avail themselves
of the services offered by K.A.B.
In 1968 the holiday home at Cliftonville was as popular as
ever and the Annual Exhibition and Sale of Work held at Maidstone
was well attended by persons from this area; as was the
Margate Church Service for the Blind. The various social activities
organised by the Association provide a meeting place from which
life-long friendships have been formed. These activities often
provide the incentive for a blind person to move outside his
immediate environment.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The register has expanded considerably during the year.
Services now available include interpretation for the deaf with and
without speech, casework, domiciliary visiting, advisory sessions for
the hard of hearing, and social clubs.
The Bromley Deaf Club began meeting in June and was
officially opened by the Mayor in October. It has proved very
popular and provides a wide range of activities to cater for all ages
over 16 years. Transport is provided for elderly and infirm deaf
people.
In co-operation with the Royal Association in Aid of the Deaf
and Dumb, Church Services conducted in sign language are provided
monthly at Bromley Parish Church followed by a social
evening. Transport is also provided for the elderly.
It is hoped that two Hard of Hearing Clubs, centred at
Bromley and Orpington, will be opened early in 1969.
Monthly advisory sessions on the use of hearing aids for the
elderly hard of hearing are held at Oxford House, William Morris
Hall, Beckenham and Melvin Hall Day Centres, and similar services
are available in residential accommodation for the elderly and to
callers at the Health and Welfare Department. Over 100 members
of the public have obtained advice in the period under review.