Who Says Small is Beautiful?—in Defence of the Large Hostel

Abstract

Who says small is beautiful? I have been involved in helping to run larger hostels for the mentally handicapped for the last ten years, and despite the current fad for small units, it seems to me that there is a lot to be said for some of the larger units and no one is doing the saying! They have more staff so that residents have a better chance of finding someone to relate to; larger buildings with more flexibility of use; and a wider range of facilities, which means more scope for innovation in organisation and management.