| AdminHistory | The National Old People's Welfare Committee was established in 1940 and local old people's welfare committees soon followed. At a Conference in May 1948 of Stepney Borough Council's Public Health Committee and representatives of the Stepney Old People's Public Welfare Committee and other kindred organisations the possibility of forming a Stepney Old People's Welfare Association was explored. This resulted in the inaugural meeting of the Association in October 1948. Its constitution provided for representation of the Borough Council, the active voluntary organisations in welfare work among the aged, religious organisations and individuals. The association was essentially a co-ordinating body. It appointed a full-time Organising Secretary (Dorothy Halsall) based at the Royal Foundation of St. Katharine. In its early years the Association's work developed along three main lines: providing meals, clubs and visiting. During the 1950s activity expanded into the areas of chiropody, workrooms for the elderly, holidays and outings and the care of the elderly in their own homes.
In 1965 the new Tower Hamlets Borough Council took over much of the work of the Association through its Old People's Welfare Sub-Committee. There were attempts to form a Tower Hamlets Old People's Welfare Association through merging with the Bethnal Green and Poplar Old People's Welfare Committees but this was not realised. Consequently at a meeting of the Association on 7th September 1965 a resolution was passed to set up the Stepney Old People's Welfare Trust which was accepted as a charity by the Charity Commissioners. Since this time the main thrust of the Trust's activities has been its "Friend and Neighbour" Service. In the early 1990s the name of the Trust was changed to the Tower Hamlets Old People's Welfare Trust, reflecting its borough-wide activities. The Trust is now based at Toynbee Hall.
For further information see "Friends and Neighbours - 50 years of care" published by the Trust in 1998. |