Notes
| Date | 01 January 1930 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3000300117 |
| Published date | 01 January 1930 |
| Subject Matter | Notes |
NOTES
WELFARE
WORK
BY THE
POLICE
(continuedfrom page 680)
IN the issue of October 1929 (Vol.
II,
p. 675) were placed on record
examples of philanthropic work effected by police officers in various parts
of England and Wales, which were similar in spirit and method to the wel-
fare work at the Lads Club at Norwich (Vol.
II,
p. 387).
The
following
accounts, arranged alphabetically, deal with typical instances of similar
welfare work performed by the police in Scotland. There are also Boys
Clubs in Ceylon which have been described in connection with the Ceylon
Police (Vol. I, p. 208).
SCOTLAND
As previously stated, welfare work has taken two distinctive
features-
Boys Clubs and Clothing Associations. As regards the latter, aPolice-Aided
Clothing Association is a feature common to many forces, especially in the
North, the first being at Edinburgh.
Edinburgh.-A
Police-Aided Scheme for Clothing Destitute Children
was founded in Edinburgh in 1892.
The
Chief Constable is the honorary
secretary, and all work done is entirely voluntary. Every application
received is carefully investigated and considered before the grant of boots or
clothing is made. Only the really deserving cases are assisted. When the
scheme was first started worn or cast-off clothing had to be collected;
but
after four years' experience the committee became convinced that the
purchase of new clothing was an equally cheap method when the cost of
collecting and altering the garments had been taken into account.
It
was
therefore decided to abandon the original system and to work the scheme on
its present lines, namely, by voluntary subscription. Clothing and boots are
marked in such a way that they are recognized by pawnbrokers and dealers,
who have instructions to bring to the notice of the police any such clothing
which comes before them. Up to the winter of 1928 a total of nearly 53,000
children had been clothed in the thirty-six years of the scheme's existence.
The
income for 1928 was £1,675 and this was wholly expended.
Another form of welfare work carried out in Edinburgh is that of the
Edinburgh City Police Male Voice Choir, inaugurated in 1926.
The
Chief
Constable is the president, and the present membership twenty-eight.
The
conductor is the only member who is not a police officer and the only one who
receives any remuneration.
The
choir since its inception has given numerous
concerts to patients in hospitals and homes. Concerts have also been given
in aid of local charities and to the residents of the poorer districts of the city.
Hawick (Roxburghshire).-
The
Hawick Burgh Police Benevolent
Fund
was instituted in 1903 by the then Chief Constable.
The
scheme was started
with the object of giving the poorer children of the town a New Year's treat,
and a concert was organized to raise the funds.
The
concert has since been
held every year, and has become an outstanding annual function. Since
1909 the present Chief Constable has continued the good
work;
and all
members of the Force contribute to its success.
148
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