During the year 1885 nearly 2,000 cases were treated. The income of the year amounted to £1,081, and the expenditure only to £624. The Committee of Management, however, are desirous of erecting a Hospital, and thus be enabled to deal with serious cases as in-patients. A site has been secured for this purpose in John Bright Street. It is estimated that £5,000 will be required. £1,200 of which has already been obtained.
The Hospital is conducted on the free system, but some patients are received on payment of a sum sufficient to cover the bare cost of their treatment.
The Deaf and Dumb Institution.—This Charity is an educational establishment. It was founded nearly three quarters of a century ago for the instruction of deaf and dumb children. 70 boys and 58 girls were on the books during the year 1885. The Charity is supported by voluntary contributions, supplemented to a considerable extent by payments on behalf of the inmates.
Children are admitted by election, and the election takes place at the Annual General Meeting. Every Governor is entitled to one vote in respect of a donation of £10, or an annual subscription of £1. 1s. Children admitted without election pay £25 per annum. Elected children pay £10 if they come from Warwickshire, Worcestershire, or Staffordshire; £15 if they come from other Counties, and £20 if maintained by Boards of Guardians. The system of education is excellent. Children are taught not only by means of the manual alphabet but by articulation and lip reading, in cases where that system can be advantageously employed.
The Institution is placed in a healthy and beautiful situation in Church Road, Edgbaston.
The income for the year 1885 was £2,726, made up as follows:—Subscriptions £461, Legacies £804, Donations £63, Interest on Investments £400, Payments for Pupils £986, Sundries £12. Total £2,726.
The expenditure was about £100 in excess of the income. There is no rule as to funding legacies. The charity does excellent work and is deservedly popular.
The General Institution for the Blind.—This Institution has been of immense benefit to the town and neighbourhood. The buildings are handsome and commodious, and are situated in a charming part of Edgbaston, about two miles from the centre of Birmingham. The Charity was founded thirty-eight years ago. The expenditure in 1885 was a little in excess of £4,200, whilst the income, including sales of materials manufactured by the inmates, reached the large sum of £6,270. The subscriptions and donations amounted to £778, Legacies £2,119, the interest on investments was £734. Payments by Pupils £765, Sales £1,874. Here too the legacies are not funded. But the large sum received from legacies in 1885, together with the balance in hand at the commencement of that year, enabled the managers to invest over £2,000 out of the year’s income.
46 males and 32 females were in the Institution in 1885, and 257 adult blind persons were visited and taught at their own homes.