ANNUAL REPORT OF CORSO

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26606, 17 December 1951, Page 8

ANNUAL REPORT OF CORSO

RELIEF WORK OVERSEAS OUTLINED , Europe benefited most from : CORSO’s relief work in the year s ended March 31, 1951, according to . the annual report for the year which . has just been published. Of the supplies shipped abroad during the year, • 53 per cent, went to Europe, 30 per . cent, to Western Europe, ana 23 per cent, to Greece. . The three shipments to Greece during the year consisted of 630 cases of goods valued at £31,660, and the 870 . cases sent to Europe in 14 shipments were valued at £41,482. To India and Pakistan went 23 per cent, of CORSO supplies sent abroad, consisting of 333 cases valued at £18,225 to India, and ; 231 cases valued at £12,412 to Pakistan. China and Hong Kong received 20 per cent, of the CORSO supplies, comprising 847 cases valued at £26,979. Smaller shipments were sent to Korea, Southern Rhodesia, and the Pacific Islands. Total consignments during the year amounted to 3027 cases valued at £137,865. CORSO’s income during the yfear was £37,518, most of which was received in the China Famine Appeal. CORSO’s total turnover for the year in money and goods amounted to more than £ 170,000, of which administrative costs were about 3 per cent. The report and the budget for 1952 indicate the changing . direction of CORSO’s activities. After some years in which China has been the main recipient of CORSO aid, assistance to this country in dwindling, and increasing interest is being taken in the Indian countries. One of the reasons for the lessening of aid to China is the return of CORSO workers from that country. This has also resulted in fewer supplies being sent, since CORSO field workers are no longer present to supervise distribution. Tribute is paid in the report to the valuable work done bv members of the China team who have returned during the year. The report indicates that there are still serious needs to be met in Greece and Western Europe, and requests for increased assistance to civilian -refugees in Korea appear likely to become more pressing soon. ;

CORSO’s interest in India, Pakistan, and Ceylon has grown greatly. Last year an exploratory mission into needs and the possibilities of assistance to these countries was carried out bv Mr Philio Matthews His investigations showed that there was a tremendous field for CORSO activity in the Indian sub-continent and that there were reliable agencies through which CORSO relief goods might be distributed. India and Pakistan were beset with a tremendous refugee problem and all three countries had age-old problems of novertv and ill-health. The .report concludes with the Dominion council’s expression of thanks to all in New Zealand who voluntarily assisted with its work.