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20
The staff of our Old People's Clubs have continued to work well, and it
is no mean feat to keep happy the members of 3 full-time clubs in addition to
4 part-time clubs'. However, an acceptable gift was received in the will of an
ex-member of the Borough Welfare Committee which enabled us to purchase a
portable television set and a portable record player for use in the clubs, and
this has increased the amenities still further. The Bell Club members have
watched with interest the erection of their new premises, and I hope to be
able to give details of its opening and of its full amenities next year. The
special weekly club for enfeebled old age pensioners, on Friday afternoons at
Hoxton Hall, continued its Concert Artistes' Association shows to full houses,
and the handicraft classes again raised £100 at their annual sale of work, in
addition to presenting their annual 100 soft toys to the children's wards at
Mile End Hospital (from the Haggerston Club).
The Council's Holiday and Rest Home at Copthorne celebrated the year by
being fully re-decorated, and gave at least two weeks' first-class food and
fresh air to 954 persons in need of this help. (in this connection it is
interesting to note that there were more than twice as many children between
the ages of 9 months and 5 years, compared with the 1958 total). We had also
some difficulty in accommodating all the applicants for the pensioners'
Christmas fortnight there.
Meals on Wheels distributed in half the Borough by the W.V.S., and in the
other half by the Salvation Army, continued to help the
homebound, and totalled, together with meals supplied at the three full-time
clubs, about 500 a week, the pensioners paying l0d as before.
The free laundry services further expanded, and the work continued to
be done in a splendid manner at a nominal charge by St. Matthew's Hospital
laundry. Free shoe repairs by the Lion Boys' Club were very popular with the
pensioners, and the Health Department's supply of second-hand furniture was in
great demand. This Department's 20 wheel chairs were in constant use, and a
constant procession of blankets and mattresses passed through our stores. The
delivery of library book3 and radios to the homebound continued to bring
'Light' into many lonely homes, the chiropodist adding 'power' to their feet
and helping them to be able to attend clinics at a later date. Many other
little amenities were given to individual old people through the enthusiasm
of our visitors as required, and altogether we feel that life is becoming
more worthwhile every year to the Shoreditch old people.
All these services were of course in addition to those of the District
Nursing Association, the L.C.C. Home Help Service and so forth, who contribute
so much to the whole of London. We are indebted also to the trustees
of the City of London & East London Dispensary for half the salary of one
visitor, and to King Edward's Hospital Fund for their £300 towards the
Holiday Home maintenance.