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23
WELFARE SERVICES
TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
During the year, a Ministry of Health Circular 20/66 was issued calling for a review of homelessness.
In Brent the facilities that exist for emergencies are two-fold ; first, a small unit catering for 3 women
and up to 15 children, with its own cooking and personal cleansing needs. This accommodation has been
under constant use, fifty-two families being admitted during the year. Second, accommodation is set aside
for a larger major incident and covers upwards of 50 families.
Three hostels provide short stay accommodation for 30 families, including eight husbands. A
domestic science instructor attends one day a week at the hostel in Dartmouth Road to help mothers in household
budgeting. The playhut, which the "Friends of 91" provided with financial help from the Willesden
Round Table, was formally opened by the Mayor in November. Organised play groups are held 3 days a week
and plans are in hand to increase this to 5 days.
The number of families seeking help because of homelessness has increased over the year, a large
proportion of the applicants having had to be found alternative accommodation. Over and above those
admitted to more permanent quarters, 52 other admissions were made and of these 17 were outside normal
office hours. These consisted of 17 mothers and 33 children and admissions were arranged by the Duty
Officer. The remainder consisted of 35 women and 73 children. Legal evictions made up the main cause
for homelessness. Ten families were re-housed during the year by the Council, four being victims of fire ;
two families found their own accommodation; and eight left after overnight stay. Preventative work resulted
in 3 families being rehoused elsewhere. Voluntary organisations who have assisted include the Ladyholme
Company Ltd., Lend-a-Hand, Provident Row Night Refuge and Home, Ambridge House Foundation and the
Salvation Army. All maintenance charges for the above have been met by the Council.
Despite strenuous efforts of the staff to assist in re-housing families, the problem remains, and to
help alleviate pressure, further properties are being sought for conversion for use as temporary accommodation.
RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION
The total number of beds provided under Section 21(l)(a) of the National Assistance Act, 1948,
is now 467, allocated as shown below: —
Beds
Coplands 62 Men and Women
Courtfield 44 Men and Women
Freeland Road 47 Women
Hillcrest 100 Men and Women
Ithell Court 40 Men and Women
Kenton Grange 34 Men and Women
Kingsbury Manor 23 Women
Mardale 18 Women
Shepperton Court 71 Men and Women
Wren Park 28 Women
During the year, 57 men and 158 women were admitted to the Council's Homes, and on 31st December
10 men and 57 women were on the waiting list for admission.
In addition to the old people accommodated in the above homes, the Council is responsible for the
maintenance of another 182 residents in voluntary and other local authority homes.
Twenty-three men and fifty-seven women were admitted to Short Stay accommodation during the
year.
At "Kenton Grange", improvements to the laundry were completed at a cost of £575, and at "Wren
Park", alterations to the laundry and kitchen were completed at a cost of £2,200.
On 10th October, the building of a new residential home at Stag Lane, Kingsbury, commenced. The
building is designed to accommodate 50 infirm old people and is scheduled to be completed in June, 1968. The
estimated cost of the project, including furniture and fees, is estimated at £117,344.
WELFARE OF THE BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED
Blind persons.
On 31st December, there were 547 persons on the register. There were 71 new cases (excluding recertifications
and transfers from other areas) during the year. The majority of referrals for registration
came from Hospital authorities. The classification of blind persons by age groups and at age of onset of
blindness are shown in Tables 21 and 22. One hundred and twenty-seven of the registered blind persons
suffer from additional physical and/or mental handicaps.
Four children under 5 years of age remained at home. Of the 10 children of school age, 8 attend
special schools and 2 are ineducable; of these latter one remains at home and one attends Neasden Junior
Training Centre. A girl of 17 years is at the Royal Normal College for the Blind, London, and a young man
of 20 years is entered for an "A" level course at the Northern Polytechnic, London. He is integrated with
sighted students.
One hundred and twenty-nine persons were in full employment, and an analysis of their occupations
is shown in Table 23.