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50
Community Care
There are also two storerooms of 500 sq. ft. each, a rest room and the usual offices. Special
facilities are provided in the toilets.
The building has space for sixty persons, and at present 45 attend regularly for 3 hours a day,
5 days a week.
The improved conditions are very much appreciated by the handicapped persons and staff.
In addition to being used as a work centre the building is used to give instruction to the blind
at a regular handcraft class, and to individual blind persons.
The British Red Cross Society also use the centre for a weekly handcraft class for the handicapped
and other Voluntary Organisations hold regular meetings there.
Welfare of the Deaf
The Welfare Officer for the deaf as part of his responsibilities, was instrumental in helping to set
up a new social club for the deaf in Hillingdon. The club meets every Saturday evening at the new
Work Centre, and the meetings are very well attended. On average about 50 persons attend the
weekly meetings, but on special occasions as many as 150 have been present, many of them coming
from outside the Borough.
The Welfare Officer has continued to assist the deaf in finding suitable employment, and at the
end of 1969 was able to report that no deaf and dumb person, of working age, known to him, was
unemployed.
There are now 75 deaf persons on the register.
Adaptations
In an endeavour to assist handicapped persons to retain as much independence as possible,
adaptations were carried out in 63 homes during 1969. The total cost of this work was £2,114 17s. 0d.,
of which £971 7s. 5d. was recoverable by way of contribution from the handicapped person. In the
majority of cases the adaptations were simple ones, such as the installation of handrails and provision
of ramps, but in one case a downstairs shower unit and toilet was installed at a cost of £660.
Aids
Aids were issued to 415 handicapped persons at a total cost of £1,725 5s. 2d. The aids are issued
on loan free of charge, and they are returned to stock when no longer required. Many of them are
suitable for re-issue to other handicapped persons.
Handcraft Classes and Social Club
As mentioned earlier the British Red Cross gives valuable assistance by arranging handcraft
classes for the disabled in various parts of the Borough.
The Council gives financial help and assists with transport.
The Society also runs a flourishing social club for the younger physically handicapped.
Choral Class
The Choral class for the handicapped which was commenced in 1968 has continued to prove
very popular. The choir took part in a special choral festival at Harrow, when all the handicapped
persons' choirs from the former Middlesex Boroughs participated.
Gardening Class
This class continues to be held at Norwood Hall, Southall, where special facilities are available
for instruction and participation. Transport is provided for all these classes.
Holidays
During the year 61 persons were assisted with holiday arrangements or were given financial help.
A party of 30 disabled persons spent a holiday at a camp on the Isle of Sheppey, accompanied
by members of the staff and volunteers.
The total cost of these assisted holidays was £1,349 2s. 9d.