View report page

service.
The holiday home at Lancing which had been
available for only part of 1967 was used exten
sively during 1968 with the result that more
elderly citizens of the borough who applied for
holidays enjoyed this benefit although at peak
periods it was impossible to satisfy all demands.
The borough council s housing committee
continued to develop its programme for the provi
sion of sheltered housing for the elderly and
there is no doubt that this service has enabled
many old people to remain in the community without
the need for full residential care
No additional beds became available in the
residential homes and the total number remained
at 437. Plans to purchase premises to provide a
small family unit of residential accommodation
did not materialise as no entirely suitable pro
perties became available
Continuing the policy advocated in previous
years it was decided to extend the provision of
short stay care and 129 persons were assisted in
this way compared with 78 in the previous year,
There is no doubt that relatives and friends
derive considerable benefit from the opportunity
afforded to have a rest and a holiday With
additions to the transport fleet it was possible
to increase the day care service and some 25 old
persons were looked after representing an
improvement of 60% over 1967
In spite of all these activities there remained
a constant demand for admission to permanent
residential care At the end of 1968 the waiting
list showed a net increase of six making a total
of 114 During the year 101 admissions were
effected whilst 38 names were removed from the
waiting list following death deterioration or
leaving the district.
The Blind and Partially Sighted
The main burden of meeting the needs of blind
and partially sighted persons continued to be
shouldered by the social work staff and the
fact that the registers showed little change can be
no inducation of the volume of the work done At
the end of the year 379 persons were registered
as blind and 105 were registered as partially
sighted.
The Middlesex Association for the Blind
continued to be very co operative and afforded
financial assistance to needy blind persons in
Hounslow The Association ran its annual
handcraft exhibition on 2nd May 1968 and nine
residents of Hounslow made thirteen entries
one of which gained a first prize whilst another
was awarded a third prize.
The provision of social activities and holidays
continued to be a regular feature
The Physically Handicapped
The fact that the register of handicapped people
showed a net increase of 313 (i e. from 1 225 to
1,538) by the end of 1968 indicates that extensive
publicity was achieving the desired results in
finding people in need of services.
Expenditure on the provision of special aids
and the carrying out of adaptations to premises
rose beyond expectation and it was found to be
necessary to increase forward provision by nearly
25%
Many holidays were provided at the Council's
own home including two parties from Martindale
Road School but as handicapped people have
special problems it was necessary to arrange for
a party of 50 persons to go to Gibson s Camp
Bracklesham Bay Sussex for their holiday.
Sinee 1966 the Manager and Staff of Messrs
Woolworths. High Street Hounslow have devoted
one evening of their time to enable handicapped
people to carry out their Christmas shopping in
circumstances of comparative ease The shop is
closed at the normal hour on the day selected and
is re-opened a short time later exclusively for
handicapped people and their escorts who are
conveyed to and from the store by Borough Council
transport and many private citizens using their own
cars. The annual event which took place on 12th
December 1968 was an even greater success than
1967.
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The Senior Social Worker for the Deaf continued to
be fully occupied in meeting the needs of the 119
people in the borough known to have special pro
blems because of deafness His services were
required by neighbouring authorities at frequent
intervals.
Families with Problems
The council s policy introduced in 1967 whereby
miscellaneous properties were made available
to the department so that families in need of
accommodation could be assisted as separate
units was developed in 1968 and at the end of the
99