Crippled Children Society Work Since 1935 Reviewed

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29269, 29 July 1960, Page 15

Crippled Children Society Work Since 1935 Reviewed

Twenty-five years ago this month the Canterbury and West Coast branch of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society was formed and a review of its work in those years is given in the annual report of the branch president (Mr L. G. K Steven). “During the early years of the branch the chief work was discovery of the crippled children and enlistment of public support, chiefly through enrolment of honorary members,” said Mr Steven. He said that at the end of the first year the branch has registered 61 cases. There were 582 on the register now—446 in Canterbury and the rest on the West Coast The total registrations to date were 2437, but 1855 had been deleted for various reasons, mainly because no further treatment or help was required. Mr Steven said the activities of the branch through the years had taken the form of transporting children to hospitals and clinics for treatment and help in providing special surgical shoes. Grants had been made for spec-

ial travel or education expenses and equipment and for home nursing equipment. Parents had been told the best ways to look after and train their crippled children, and wheelchairs and tricycles had been lent to the children, he said. The branch now had its own headquarters in Christchurch with rooms for the children when they came to the city for treatment Field officers played a big part in the branch work and in Canterbury during the last year they had travelled over 25,000 miles transporting children and visiting in their homes.

On the West Coast honorary field officers kept in touch with crippled children wherever they lived, Mr Steven said.