West indian comes to England : a report prepared for the trustees of the London Parochial Charities by the family welfare assocition

THE Council of the Family Welfare Association, in publishing this book, wishes to record its most grateful thanks to the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities and their Clerk, Sir Donald Allen. In accordance with their long established practice of initiating and sponsoring pioneer experiments, the Trustees, through a generous grant and constant support, enabled the Association to provide for three years a special service of help and advice to West Indian and other coloured immigrants in London. This service, which operated under the title of "The Project for the Welfare of Coloured People in London', was based on the principle of assimilation and the recognition that immigrants with a completely different social and cultural background would inevitably be faced with many problems in settling down and at the same time would create many problems for their hosts. It was believed, however, that such problems could be minimized if help and advice were available at an early stage.

The Association opened in Lambeth, where there was a considerable concentration of West Indians, a special Citizens' Advice Bureau, staffed by a West Indian and an English social worker, and open to all residents in the borough. A West Indian family caseworker was attached to one of the Family Welfare Association Area Offices which serves nine Metro politan Boroughs in North London and a West Indian social worker was appointed to the Central Staff of the Association as liaison officer and supervisor.

The Association makes no bold claims about the success of the Project; we believe, however, that it was a more than worthwhile experiment which could well be repeated, not only in London, but in any provincial town and city with coloured populations. We believe, too, that the lessons learned and experience gained will be of value not only to social workers but to all who are concerned for the welfare of our coloured minorities.