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79
(c) Hackney Association for Workshops for the Elderly. This
voluntary organisation, to which the Council made a grant of £400,
opened Hackney's first Workshop for the Elderly in the Spring, at the
premises of Pedro Street Settlement in Rushmore Road. A number of old
people work daily shifts of two-hours under the supervision of an
organiser. By the end of the year there were forty-eight members and
all had shown steady improvement in health and morale since starting to
work there. Work has been supplied by various firms in the area. A
local firm very generously gave the services of one of their staff to
train some of the workers in simple tailoring; in addition to tailoring,
the type of work undertaken includes small assembly, packing, and
folding of advertisement matter. A standard flat rate of 1s. 6d. per
hour is paid to the members, and it is envisaged that in the near
future there will be sufficient applicants to make up a third shift.
The following principles have been adopted in selecting members of the
Workshops:-
(i) all those who work in the Workshops should be in
need of the help that the Workshops can give;
(ii) they should be resident in the borough of Hackney;
(iii) they should be above retirement age.
Under the provisions of SECTION 43 of the London County Council
(General Powers) Act, 1953 (Power of sanitary authorities to cleanse
aged and enfeebled persons in their own homes or elsewhere) some 40 persons
were given a total of 308 baths at the Mill fields Cleansing Centre;
transport to and from the Centre was provided by the department. In
addition some 28 persons were given a total of 300 baths in their own
homes.