Marylands appeal today

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33064, 3 November 1972, Page 2

Marylands appeal today

A street-day appeal will be held in Christchurch today for the Marylands residential school for the retarded, at Halswell. It will be the first appeal made directly to the people of Christchurch for support since the Brothers of St John of God opened their home 17 years ago. The response to the appeal and the decision of the Government on what aid it intends to give Marylands will determine whether the home will remain in existence.

The plight of the home is now perilously close to forcing the brothers to end their work in New Zealand. They are no longer able to

obtain large sums of money from their order in Australia.

The prior of Marylands, Brother Moloney, made this point before a committee headed by the Minister of Health (Mr AdamsSchneider) in Wellington this week. The accountant for the order, Mr J. Byron, of Sydney, flew to Wellington to answer questions about running and maintenance costs at Marylands. Mr Byron told the meeting that since 1966 the order had sent $279,000 to Christchurch to meet maintenance costs at Marylands. This was quite apart from additional money sent to Christchurch to help meet day-to-day running costs. A Government-appointed architect visited Marylands this week and after an inspection told the brothers that it would be necessary to spend $250,000 to put the whole premises in good repair. MANY DONATIONS Since the plight of Marylands came to the attention of the public about three weeks ago there has been a steady stream of donations which now amount to $2OOO. Brother Moloney said the response had been tremendous. “People have been very good.” Many volunteers have come forward to man collection boxes in the city today. The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr N. G. Pickering) has commended the appeal. “Please give generously to ensure that Marylands is able to continue its excellent community service,” he said.

The member of Parliament for Wigram (Mr M. A. Connelly) has received a letter from Mr AdamsSchneider saying that he and the Minister of Education (Mr Pickering) were giving urgent consideration to additional financial support for Marylands. Mr Connelly said the Government’s present level of support for the institution fell far short of what

it gave to a similar State home at Campbell Park and any effort to make the position equitable would require a very substantial grant. “We cannot allow a situation to continue where the people of Australia have to support Marylands because

we are not willing to see to it ourselves,” said Mr Connelly. ABOVE: Boys at the school display collection tins they have prepared for today’s appeal. From left: Shane Crosbie, John Limbrick, John Kennedy, and Stephen Hope.