SOCIAL SERVICES
it became impossible for them to continue there. The home is running in temporary accommodation at the moment, but plans for a permanent building are well under way.
Public Assistance
The Social Welfare Office operates seven welfare centres to which application for direct assistance can be made. The circumstances of applicants are investigated by caseworkers, and preference is given to persons who were born in Hong Kong or who have lived in the Colony for many years. The assistance which can be given includes the issue of free meals and clothing and the placing of children in free schools. During the year an average of 1,284 free meals daily were supplied at welfare centres.
The Social Welfare Office continued to run three camps throughout 1952. The one at North Point is a public assistance institution which has had to take in a number of persons who are unable to look after them- selves and for whom there is no appropriate institution in the Colony. This is an unsatisfactory feature of the camp and proposals for giving specialized care to blind boys, cripples, and mental defectives are under con- sideration. The second camp at Morrision Hill is a settlement where free communal accommodation, with- out food, is made available to selected applicants. The third camp at Rennie's Mill was started in the middle of 1950, as a partial solution to the problem of refugees fleeing from the civil war in China. This camp includes a large number of blind and disabled persons who are
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