Social Service Council Had Busy Year

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30916, 24 November 1965, Page 24

Social Service Council Had Busy Year

The work of the Social Service Council of the Diocese of Christchurch is growing in al! fields, according to the thirteenth annual report. During the year 1200 cases of confidential counselling by trained social workers have been undertaken. All kinds of human problems, marital conflicts, family troubles, children’s work, police court mission, discharged prisoners’ aid, visiting the sick and the lonely, and relief of cases of genuine distress have been part of the council’s work. More than 140 children have received help in foster homes and many teen-agers have been cared for in the hostels ran by the council, says the report. Maori boys are looked after in the Te Kaihanga hostel, a comparatively new venture for the council. The 48 boys are all anprentices at a carpentry school at Weedons and they are from throughout New Zealand. The council is concerned at the long waiting list for entry to its two homes for the aged. Churchill Courts and Fitzgerald House.

Churchill Hospice, which has been operating for a year, has been an unqualified success, according to the report. The bed occupancy over the period has been more than 99 per cent. The committee is planning another hospice for the aged.

The number of interviews by the city mission during the year numbered 538. Orders were issued for fares to 37, grants for rent to five, orders for board to nine, for fuel to 16. for meals to 37. for groceries to 236, and for clothing to five. In addition, 183 free issues of clothing were made. The new Glenwood home for the aged at Timaru, run in conjunction with the Methodist Church, is working most satisfactorily, says the report. The committee is hoping to establish children’s work, and provide a trained social worker as soon as possible in South Canterbury.