Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1954-1955 — Page 7

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This Report covers the period April 1954 until March 1955-inclusive-

1. This is the second annual report of the Social Welfare Office-a report covering the period from April 1948 to March 1954 having already been published.

2. The Social Welfare Office celebrated its 7th Anniversary in November 1954 and the occasion was marked by a Social Welfare Exhibition which lasted three days from 3.11.54 to 5.11.54. Organized in conjunction with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the exhibition sought to stimulate public interest and yet further voluntary effort. Approximately 20,000 visitors attended and were given an illustration of the Colony's welfare activities through the media of photographs, films, publications, displays of handicraft and demonstrations of physical training, dancing and singing. The theme of the Ex- hibition showing the close collaboration between the Social Welfare Office and the nearly 100 voluntary organizations functioning in established fields, from infant welfare to the care of the aged, gave the keynote to Hong Kong's welfare services.

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The problems with which social workers in both official and voluntary agencies had to deal during the period under review must be seen against the recent social context, resulting from the change of régime in China, when, particularly in 1949 and 1950, hundreds of thousands of refugees poured into the Colony-most of them young or in their prime. This influx swelled the population to about 2,360,000 at its peak in mid-1950 -placing an enormous strain on existing Government services. With universal education not yet achieved in Hong Kong, it was estimated that during 1954-5 there were some 60,000 non-school

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