PRESTON HALL

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 137, 6 December 1929, Page 12

PRESTON HALL

VILLAGE SETTLEMENT

WORK FOR EX-SOLDIERS

THE SCHEME EXPLAINED

Particulars of the work carried on at Preston Hall, the British ex-soldiers' settlement, were placed before the Rehabilitation Commission to-day by Sir Andrew Russell, who paid a visit to the institution on his recent visit Home.

Preston Hall, he stated, was a, village settlement* and restricted to T.B. cases. It had three aspects: as a sanatorium; as an industrial establishment; as a settlement for ex-patients. As a sanatorium, it was a receiving station providing outside treatment through the settlement and workshops. The latter were run on an economic basis, paying their way without subsidy.

METHOD OF ADMISSION.

Admission was selective. Prior to discharge from the sanatorium —while still under outdoor treatment, and in receipt of charitable aid, disability pension, or relief from his local rates —the patient was invited to join the workshops. He received 5s a week, the maximum a patient might be naid. During that period it was determined whether he was medically, technically, land temperamentally fit to be admitted as a permanent addition to the workshop staff. If on discharge as a patient he was considered suitable, he was admitted as a settler. Once admitted he was not discharged, except for bad behaviour. The labour of the 5s a week.men was in fact, a labour subsidy to the workshops, and the amount of the subsidy was a big factor in their economic success. The actual amount received from outside sources for maintenance of patients in the sanatorium was substantially more than it cost, so constituting a further source of revenue.

THE SETTLEMENT,

If married, a settler was accommodated, usually, in a six-roomed cottage at a weekly rental of 4s to 7s Gd (not economic). The cost of the cottages was .€425 to £500. Single men were accommodated in a hostel, bungalow style, one or two to a room. One hostel visited housed 38. The cost of board and lodging for single men worked out at 27s 6d a week, and covered everything.

The whole of the administration was under the executive control of the medical superintendent, who was in charge of health, administration, finance, including that of the workshops. Under him were an assistant medical officer, a matron (sanatorium), a. matron (hostel), workshops manager (over all industries), workshop foreman (over each branch of industry), an accountancy staff, and sales staff.

The industries paid^union rates, and were run as an economic concern, competing in the open market. No outside labour was introduced (which had one drawback in that rush orders could not be accepted) nor could overtime be worked, and time contracts had to be carefully considered.

A long waiting list, both for sanatorium, and afterwards for shops and settlement, enabled strict selection to be practised. Discipline was administered by the superintendent, subject to the council's decision. As few rules as possible were laid down; otherwise matters of settlement concern were left' to the honour of the inmates. Abuse •of privileges lead to dismissal! JNo uniform was worn. The really excellent result obtained was due to a good morale from top to bottom, which was fostered by a careful explanation of the rules and their necessity, and by inviting and the giving confidence, 100 strict supervision tending to institutionalism was avoided.

THE WOEK.

Men of all trades had been found among the patients, and owing to selection, few, if any, incompetents were taken on. The main branches of work were: (1) Carpentering and joinery (fowlhouses, caravan tops, summer bungalows, ladders, E.A.C. sentry boxes, etc.); (2) compressed fibre and leather work (dispatch cases suitcases, leather trunks of all sizes, etc ) • (3) printing, which was strongly recommended; (4) gardening (not a prominent industry); (5) live stocl- (piss and angora rabbits chiefly)-.

BIG MARKET HANDY.

There was a market of ten million within a 00-mile radius of Maidstone (limit), near which town the settlement was established. All the necessary materials and fittings could be bought in London at a moment's notice at best prices. In the workshops, as elsewhere, the keynote was community o± interest and loyalty. Other places reported upon by Sir Andrew Eussell were the British Legion and Douglas Haig Homes, which were erected in groups in or near towns where tho occupants find work: the Poppy Factory, Ltd., at which about 250 disabled men worked; Spero Leather Workers; Church Army Disabled Ex-Service Men's Industries (chiefly fancy metal work); and the ■Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops. Sir Andrew Eussell said that the general conclusion was that if a settlement scheme was put into operation it should have a settled income, apart from any profits which might accrue from the establishment of industries The most careful and strict selection of settlers would be necessary, otherwise, a few malcontents might make conditions impossible for the good men who wished to take advantage of tho scheme. Co-operation and loyalty were essential.