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Day Centres are required to meet the special needs of the aged together with the
necessary transport to carry them backwards and forwards. Day care at a centre improves beyond
recognition the health, the morale and the outlook of the individual, especially those who have
not been out of their homes for years and it eases the burden on the relatives who look after them
so unceasingly. At the same time, it relieves the domiciliary services and helps to keep hospital
beds free for the seriously ill. The value of a daily club and centre cannot be too strongly
emphasized.
Fifty-one old people spent two or more weeks in one or other of the local authority Part
III Homes during the time those who care from them in their own homes were on holiday. Several
elderly people attended daily at the Homes for meals, baths and company, returning to their own
homes each evening.
One of the most urgent needs for the adequate care of the elderly is suitable housing.
Warden serviced flatlets can accommodate elderly people even in very advanced years, but there
are also the minority who require much more personal care and attention. There is, however, a
considerable number of old people in local authority homes who have become rehabilitated since
admission and whose health has improved, who could live independent lives outside and who
would be happier to do so, but who have to remain in a home because there is nowhere else for
them to go. Many warden serviced flatlets with communal lounges and T.V.rooms should also be
available to which they could go when they leaves the homes.
The Alice Burrell Centre in Sidmouth Road, Leyton, is a place to which elderly people
may go daily, where facilities are available for mid-day meals in the dining room and the pleasures
of billiards, darts, table games and television in the lounge. The kitchen at this centre not only
cooks meals for the luncheon clubs in the borough but also supplies the meals-on-wheels for
Leyton and Walthamstow. The W.R.V.S. supply meal s-on-wheels in Chingford. Due to staffing
troubles and the demand for more meals it was decided to try out a pilot scheme of providing
quick-frozen foods. The scheme proved to be successful and the kitchen now supplies 800 meals
a day for the six luncheon clubs, the physically handicapped day centre, four mentally handicapped
centres and the meals-on-wheels service.
The six homes owned by Waltham Forest seldom have vacancies for old people, which
occur only when there is a death or a transfer to hospital. The waiting list of those in need of
residential care grows daily and more homes are planned for the future to help meet the demand.
The influenza epidemic towards the end of 1967 affected both the residents and the staff
and for two or three weeks sickness took its toll of the old people and often only half the staff
could attend for duty. During this period new admissions were deferred. Great credit and appreciation
is due to those who carried on looking after their elderly charges during a very difficult
period.
The League of Friends, senior school children and voluntary organisations, continue to
render service at the homes and their efforts are much enjoyed by the residents and the staff.
THE HOMELESS
The two hostels in the borough, for a total of 12 families, were full throughout the year
and several families have had to be accommodated in Suttons Hostel, Hornchurch. As soon as a
family was able to obtain other accommodation another took its place. There was constant
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