WELFARE WORK FOR AGED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30167, 26 June 1963, Page 16

WELFARE WORK FOR AGED

“Great Expansion Of Activities”

The biggest obstacle to welfare work is to know when an old person is in trouble, says the annual report of the Christchurch Aged People's Welfare Council. The report says that during the 12 months ended March 31 last there was a great expansion in the council’s activities and a consolidation of its financial position. The chairman (Dr. H. R. Donald) says that the council’s many activities are made possible only by the cooperation of the public and of various community organisations. “A good example of public co-operation is to be seen in the establishment of the six satellite social clubs for the elderly that the council has been instrumental in fostering,” he says. Inquiries are being made, says Dr. Donald, about the availability of buildings for a central club room adequate for the requirements of the elderly persons of Christchurch. The possibility of obtaining more room in the council’s existing quarters is also being investigated. The policy of bringing elderly persons into the council’s occupational centre rather than giving them instructions in their own homes has been extended as far as possible during the 12 months, says the report. During the summer the council’s gardening service attended more than 200 properties. Dealing with accommodation, Dr. Donald says that he deeply regrets having to report that there is nothing further to report on a proposed residential home in Lyttelton street. The scheme ha,, been indefinitely pigeonholed by the Health Department, he says. Extensive redecoration and repair work has been done to Longford House. Plans for the new Catherine Newman wing have been approved and the wing is expected to be completed by 1964. Increased accommodation has been provided at Windsor House, says the report.