MOTHERS' CAMP

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 307, 29 December 1942, Page 6

MOTHERS' CAMP

AT AUCKLAND BEACH

SUMMER WELFARE EFFORT

A welcome rest, in ideal surroundings, is being enjoyed by wives of men in the forces and their children, who are being entertained at the Y.W.C.A. Holiday House at Blockhouse Bay, on the Manukau Harbour. The week at the beach, with household cares lifted from their shoulders, should provide a muchneeded break for the mothers.

The total of 83 is divided into three batches, the first of which arrived at the house yesterday, and each group will spend about eight days there. The holiday has been arranged by members of the Y.W.C.A. Down Town Club, who have donated the funds and will assist at the house. Friends of the association have also been generous with donations.

Miss Elsie Bennett, general secretary of the Y.W.C.A., said this morning that the holiday was arranged for all women with children whose husbands were in the forces, though preference was given to those whose husbands had been killed or were prisoners of war. It was expected that the number would be increased next week. At present 31 mothers and 54 children were being cared for.

A trained nurse, Mrs. O. Butler, is in charge of the health of the mothers and children, and there are also a matron and assistants. The mothers and young children have bedrooms, and the older boys and girls sleep in partly open-air conditions. The children's ages range from 10 months to 12 years.