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WELFARE
General
St. John Ambulance Association:
The local headquarters of the St. John Ambulance Brigade are situated at Hartington
Road, Southall. There are 24 Ambulance Members (Officer and 2 Non-Commissioned
Officers), 22 Nursing Members (2 Officers and 1 Non-Commissioned Officer), 25 Ambulance
Cadets and 20 Nursing Cadets (each having one Officer and 2 Non-Commissioned Officers).
Both Ambulance and Nursing Divisions have Auxiliary Members.
Each section has its own Surgeon; the Nursing Division and Nursing Cadets having
a Nursing Officer also.
The work carried out is as follows:—
Nursing and Nursing Equipment. The St. John Ambulance Brigade Divisions
have been trained in Nursing and First Aid to the Injured. They also have a
Medical Comforts Depot in Hartington Road, open every evening (except
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays) from 7.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. for the
issue of articles needed by the public.
Both Ambulance and Nursing Members belong to the National Hospital
Service Reserve and Nursing Members are attached to the Forward Medical
Aid Unit at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Ealing.
Welfare—General. The St. John Ambulance Brigade carried out training in
First Aid and Nursing for all who cared to take advantage of the service, and
ran special courses for Scouts and Girl Guides. The members of the Nursing
and Ambulance Divisions also carried out many other duties including
attendance at the local cinema, sports, fairs, Old Folks Clubs, accompanying
the old folk on their outings to the seaside, hospital duties, and sick visiting.
One Nursing Member regularly attended the Club for the Physically Disabled.
Duties were also covered further afield, including theatres, concerts,
London Airport and Hampton Court.
British Red Cross Society:
Membership of the Southall Division of the British Red Cross Society was 350 in
1964, including a large number of cadets, and link members who can join from the age of
eight years.
The older girls help in hospitals each week and continue to visit the deaf-blind in
order to communicate with such people by a special finger language which they have
learnt.
Courses in first-aid, nursing, and maternity and child welfare were well attended and
the Junior Red Cross also attended mothercraft, nursing and first-aid lectures and examinations.
The Handicraft Club for the Disabled maintained its membership again. Thirty-five
members attended the meetings each week in 1964. There were various outings during the
year.
Other activities of the local Red Cross included escort duties, medical loan depot,
welfare visiting, Blood Donor sessions, first-aid duties at the local Rugby Football ground,
the Royal Festival Hall and local functions, and assistance as "casualties" and "casualty
fakers" at the Civil Defence exercises at the Hayes training ground.
The Physically Disabled Peoples' Club—Southall:
A new club for disabled old age pensioners was started in the spring of 1963. The
membership grew rapidly and amounted to 120 by the end of 1964. There was also a
waiting list because transport is required for all the members and more is urgently needed.
A specially constructed coach with lifting arrangements provided by Middlesex County
Council came into use in 1963. The Group meets once a month at Shackleton Hall and tea
and entertainment are provided.
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