Community Centres -
A pamphlet on Community Centres just issued to local authorities by the Ministry of Education opens with an essay on " the needs and uses of leisure." It might be supposed that the uses to, which men and women of the industrial classes put their leisure (it is foreseen that increased mechanisation in industry will mean more leisure for the workers) was a matter for the individual and not the concern of the State. Certainly it would not be its concern if that meant regimentation. But that is not what the Ministry has in mind. It rightly feels that it is the duty of the State to provide facilities such that the citizen, released from excessive hours of work, may have the means of emplpying his leisure satisfactorily. Voluntary associations have their part to play, but they are not enough. It is the State, working through local authorities, which should provide recreational and educational centres where adults can meet together and talk, play, eat, organise communal activities and exercise their minds. For this purpose there will be required suitable buildings, wardens, paid helpers and voluntary workers. Only a local authority can undertake such provision of community centres, though its expenditure will be supplemented by grants. It is significant that it should be the Ministry of Education which should be taking the lead. This department is taking a much broader view than once it did of its educational duties. The coming age of leisure requires that there should be some organisation to provide for the recreational needs of the released workers. The Ministry of Education is the department which obviously should fill the gap ; and it is satisfactory that Mr. Butler,realises that•
Previous page
