Glenelg Health Camp Matron To Retire In November

Press, Volume C, Issue 29604, 29 August 1961, Page 2

Glenelg Health Camp Matron To Retire In November

The retiring matron of Glenelg Health Camp, Mrs A. E. Morrison, has been a stand-in for mother to more than 1000 children who have passed through the camp during the last 16} years. Mrs Morrison came to the camp when it opened and plans to retire on November 26.

' I will miss the camp when I go," she said yesterday. •■lt will be an awful break. It has really been my life for these 18 years.” But the leaving will not be so hard when the time comes for Mrs Morrison has made plans to travel to England less than a week later. She will spend 10 months in London with her son, Dr. R. B. I. Morrison, who has been doing research work at the London University College Hospital. In 1957 Mrs Morrison was awarded the M.B.E. for her work at Glenelg. When she first went to the camp there were 30 children there. This number increased to more than 40 when the Junior Chamber made extra dormitory space available. "Quite recently I met one of the children who had been at the camp.” said Mrs Morrison. "He was married and had an 11-month-old child of his own.” On Call Just like any mother in her own home. Mrs Morrison has been on call to the child, ren 24 hours a day. She sleeps near their rooms and can hear them at once if they wake. The children are aged between five and 12. Most mothers find entertaining children a problem sometimes, especially on wet

days, but Mrs Morrison and her helpers make full use of the good supply of outdoor and indoor equipment which has been collected over the years. "I believe in letting them make up their own games a lot,” she said. ‘‘l don’t think they should be organised too much in their free time. As long as they are well supervised they are much happier.” While a reporter was inter, viewing Mrs Morrison the children organised one of their own games. They played "district nurses at school” and busily pretended to give one another anti-poliomyeli-tis injections. Visitors’ Day Every Sunday is visitors’ day at the camp and children have an hour’s reunion with their parents in the afternoon. There are no visitors for children on their first Sunday at the camp or on the last, but there are other opportunities during their two-month stay. Mrs Morrison said the most rewarding part of her work was reading follow-up reports which came in to Glenelg after the children had left. "The children are almost invariably continuing to improve,” she said, "and we do know then that we have given them a good

foundation for a wellbalance future life —both physically and emotionally.” The matron at Glenelg Health Camp must have completed a general nursing training. Mrs Morrison was trained at Timaru Public Hospital. Later she worked at Ashburton Hospital and then at the New Zealand Government Hospital in Western Samoa. She was interested in the health camp movement for several years and attended summer camps in the early days of the movement. When she returns to New Zealand after her trip she intends to maintain that interest. "I have always led a busy life and I expect I will want to work for any organisation that may need my help,” she said. “However, I have not made any definite plans for joining anything yet.”