OCCUPATION FOR THE UNEMPLOYED [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—One of the recognized problems tangled up with the main unemployment issue is the risk of deterioration— physical, moral and spiritual—following long enforced idle- ness. And the loss of skill!
May I call attention to a scheme which has been evolved at North Shields as the result of proposals by the Rev. Canon Milner, which offers to the ordinary citizen an opportunity to assist in stopping the rot at present eating the heart out of many of the soundest of our people ?
A similar scheme was launched at Middlesbrough by the Rev. Arnold West, a Wesleyan Minister, last winter. Readin4 rooms were opened, lectures and concerts were provided, whilst in a knockout competition established amongst the unemployed men, over one thousand were actually engaged in playing football ; the matches attracted a crowd of three thousand or four thousand people each week, who would otherwise have been hanging aimlessly about the street corners. The experiment has been adopted and extended in North Shields, where a committee of the unemployed then:- selves are successfully engaged in running an organization known as the Tynemouth Unemployed Social Committee.
With the co-operation of the local town council, bowling greens have been placed at the disposal of the men and a number of pitches for quoits, a popular north-country game, have been laid down ; and eight cricket teams have been formed and are running a league of their own. For the winter months, plans are being made to form debating classes, and a series of lectures is being arranged in which the Workers' Educational Association has promised to co-operate. Concerts are to be held regularly. Arrangements are proceeding for the establishment of football teams and in addition the executive committee is working out the possibilities of pro- viding for those who are inclined to constructional hobbies. It is hoped to obtain workshops where men interested in metal or joinery work can spend their time either as a hobby or with a view to keeping their technical skill from rusting.
The executive committee makes all arrangements for obtaining facilities and equipment, but the men's committee is responsible for the control of the rooms and their proper use. The men's committee also undertakes to assist the caretakers in cleaning the rooms if the weather is dirty or an unusual amount of trouble is caused. Stewards are appointed for each day ; one stands at the door and checks admission to the rolm on production of the Unemployment Card, whilst others are responsible for handing out games and books.
And the most unusual feature of the whole scheme is that it is being worked practically without finances. All the work is done by volunteers ; all table games, books and magazines, and equipment for the several outdoor games have been presented, and the total expenditure incurred in the three months of the experiment is 14s. 6d. ! Give them something to occupy their minds and on which to spend their energies.—
Previous page
