DO TO OTHERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1937, Page 9

DO TO OTHERS.

AID FOR CRIPPLES.

A GREAT WORK STARTED. INCENTIVE OF LORD NUFFTEUD Almost two years now have elapsed since Lord Nuffield secured himself a place in New Zealand's history by his magnificent gifts of £50,000 and £10,000 for the aid of crippled children. The larger sum he gave from Wellington; the smaller from Auckland, inspired by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Wilson in giving up their home at Takapuna to be a home for cripples. Both the gifte were made in March, 1935. Now comes the news that Lord Nuffield is about to visit New Zealand, and the time seems appropriate to review what hag been done in the interim for those whom he wished to help. Perhaps it is a little unfortunate that the uncertainty as to the ultimate control of the Wilson Home has loomed rather large in the question of help to crippled children, because the very real and sub-' stantial aid given throughout the • country by the different branches of thej New Zealand Crippled Children Society has, as a result, been thrown eomewhat into the background. It is difficult to speak from Auckland of what has been done in other centres, but if other branches have as much to show for their efforts as Auckland, then Lord Nuffield i can be no other than gratified andj amply repaid. ' Efforts of Auckland. It was only last June that the New Zealand body held its firet annual meeting, and the interest from the £50,000 bequest was paid to the different centres. Since October, 1935, when the society was incorporated, the branches have been doing their best with the money they could raise. The Auckland branch succeeded in raising no less than £1178, and this has been used to give practical assistance.

Inquiries were made throughout the Auckland district, which, incidentally, reaches from North Cape to Taupo. from Whakatane to Taumarunui, as to the number of crippled children. A total of 380 were discovered.

A file is kept of every case, and includes a medical report, a confidential report, the needs of the individual rase and what can be done to meet those needs. Members of the Auckland committee visited many of those children, and helped to compile the file.

Aβ a result of the survey, such c material assistance as invalid chairs, i artificial limbs, surgical boots and actual money has been found for over 120 cases. Money paid by the Auckland branch in the work in the six month* from June to November, 1936, alone amounted to £370, so that the actual total from October the year before until the present can be approximately calculated. Expenditure is increasing all the timej and this year the Auckland branch has ■ budgeted "for £1200. "Boarding Scholarship" System. Of that £370. not all was spent on i chairs and similar help. Lads from . the country have been brought to the , city and sent to school here. Last year ; there were seven at the Seddon Memorial Technical College on what the branch calls '•boarding scholarships.'" This means that school tuition is free. , that board is paid, that books are found, j while a small sum is given weekly in. j pocket money. This year the number ;of scholarships is calculated to be 10. Not all children come to Ackland to go! jto school. One this year will probably he sent to a northern high school. The child can go to any school he wishes, ! provided that, in the opinion of the | [Auckland branch, the school is suitable. These scholarships are worth between £60 and £70 each, and this year will cost in the "vicinity of £700. One of the ilads awarded a scholarship last year ! came from Tauranga, another from Te iKuiti and a third from Opotiki. It is interesting to examine the way in which the Auckland branch did help itself before the interest from the Nuffield bequest became available. The last annual report of the Auckland branch shows that donations amounted to £289, membership subscriptions to £165, subscriptions from local bodies £360, revenue from schools £318, and help from sports clubs £42. Many of the schools gave at the rate of a few pence from each child and there, though

it is invidious to particularise, t&e Seddon Memorial Technical College* wu especially active. In the list of donations from schools appear sums like 3/ or 3/4 from little country schools. But the point was not the individual amount, rather the aggregate amount and the spirit behind the "widow's mite," so to speak. Examples Given. Individual examples of help giver show the practical work done. A boy badly crippled living in a sawmilling district in the King Country was incapable of earning his own living in hi& own township. He was brought to Auckland to take an accountancy course at the technical college on one of the scholarships. Another lad. living to the north of Auckland, is unable to walk many yards before he falls down. His hands and body are strong and he wants to learn a trade. Arrangements have j been made for him to learn the trade of watchmaking. His board will be found by the Auckland branch during his apprenticeship. Again, a little girl I living in a southern district was left to play in the snow. As a result she was so badly frostbitten that both her feet dropped off. For her a pair of artificial legs was found at a cost of £21. The work of the society speaks for itself. Its members and those who have helped to make it a success will ! await with keen anticipation the forthI coming visit of the man who made it I possible.