NEW HOSTEL WANTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 112, 13 May 1926, Page 16

NEW HOSTEL WANTED.

Y.W.C.A. CAMPAIGN.

DISCUSSED BY BUSINESS MEN. I

The inauguration of a campaign to raise money for the erection of a hostel on a site behind the Y.W.C.A. building in Queen Street was discussed yesterday at a meeting of business men. The gathering sat down to lunch in the dining room of the Young 'Women's Christian Association, Mr. J. W. Court presiding.

The chairman mentioned that a bnsiness man had called at the main* building prior to the luncheon and had promised to contribute £250 to the fund. (Applause). The girls of the Y.W.C.A. were organising inter-house teams, and hoped to raise a surri running well into four figures. The total amount aimed at in the campaign was £20,000.

Hon. George Fowlds said he had been connected with the Y.W.C.A. for a long time, as a member of the Advisory Board. He had watched the association's growth and development with very great interest, and was fully convinced that no institution in Auckland was rendering finer community service. Some years ago he had helped to secure the ideal site at the back of the Queen Street building, with a view to erecting la hostel thereon, and he felt sure that noting but 'the calls on the public which had intervened since that time had prevented the association from making an appeal to the community for funds to erect- a hostel. Mr. Fowlds urged those | present to support the project in every way possible.

It was stated on behalf of the Rotary Club, that while that organisation could not make it a club movement, the chairman would commend the campaign to members, in the hope that they would support it.

Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., stressed the! importance of girl life. He had for many years emphasised the point that one got a better return for work among girls than one did from work' among boys. Generally speaking, a good mother did more for the world than a good man. Hence the necessity for movements of a constructive nature among girls. He commended the movement very deeply to . the general public. Replying to a. question as to the work of the association, the general secre- ! tar y, M'ss Jean Stevenson, said the organisation was constructive, rather than I reformative, in its operation?. It ; catered chiefly for young girls on low salaries, who were away from their homes by reason of the fact that their work brought them to the eitv. Girls on a weekly wage of £2 found it difficult to live a self-respecting life, unless they banded together in rooms, living a bachelor existence. Such was not desirable, and the association aimed at providing a home, with proper care and attention. The association had a hostel in Scotia Place, but it housed only 4b" girls, and was unsuitable, the ac- , commodation being altogether inadequate. The hostel in Wellington provided for 73 permanent residents, and 40 casuals. Christchurch provided for 52, and Dunedin accommodated 56, so that Auckland was very far behind. The new hostel was a long cherished dream. It was always easy for people living comfortably in their own homes to shut their eyes to the necessity for work among girls, said Miss -Stevenson, But the number of girls that knocked at the doors of the Y.W.C.A. hostels every week made the need very clear. So great was the pressure that it was necessary to enforce a rule that no girl over 21 remain as a permanent resident for more than two years. Girls were glad to get a place to board for 22/(5. weekly, and Miss Stevenson felt that in the new hostel, for which the campaign was being held, provision should be made for poor girls unable to pay even as much as that. ; Part of the money raised in the campaign is to be devoted to the girls' holiday house at Blockhouse Bay", on which there is still a big debt remaining. The special campaign week will commence on June 1, when a big effort is to be made. ;