Stamps For Camps

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31440, 5 August 1967, Page 14

Stamps For Camps

Care for the health of children, mostly in the five-to-twelve age group, is primarily the responsibility of the Health Department, working through schools and special clinics. Such work naturally attracts a great deal of voluntary assistance, notably through the King George the Fifth Memorial Children’s Health Camps’ Federation. The federation maintains a chain of health camps throughout the country; and these are financed largely from the proceeds of the annual health stamps appeal. The steady growth of support for this appeal, which is again under way, shows that public appreciation of the work done in the camps also continues to grow. An ill-developed or emotionally disturbed child may be largely the product of environment It has been amply demonstrated that they benefit particularly from the special care given to them in the camps, where wholesome food, regular rest, out-of-doors exercise, and special teaching are features of a gently-disciplined routine. Over a long period camp directors have encountered few children who fail to respond, physically and mentally, to the training and attention they receive. It is gratifying that this year’s sales campaign has begun promisingly with a brisk demand for the stamps—which for the first time feature team sports —at post offices. The canvass will cover schools and residential areas; and few will begrudge their usual generous contribution. The cost of running camps, needless to say, increases with each year; but the value of their work is hardly to be measured in dollars and cents. The use of health stamps by businesses and individual citizens testifies to their practical interest in the wellbeing of children. But it is more than this. It is a sound investment in the health, physical and mental, of our citizens of the future.