Wise concern brought action

Press, 13 August 1980, Page 11

Wise concern brought action

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canterbury is a trail blazer. In less than ten years it has grown from'a small part-time organisation to one of the most dynamic disabled people’s groups in the country and it has done this without a cent of direct Government assistance. The society cares for more than 200 people with multiple sclerosis and related neurological diseases. Founded in the mid 19605, the society matched, the attitude of the commit nity at that time and raised substantial sums with the assistance of students at the University of Canterbury to build its own hall and office in St Asaph Street. Hagley Hall, as it became known, “was" the society to most Christchurch citizens. It paid then for the services of a part-time field officer and secretary' to keep contact with about 80 people with multiple sclerosis. The society worked to care for people in need and started a programme to make the public aware of the problems facing disabled people. By the end of the 19605, the, society was faced with forces that revolutionised

its work. The old procedure to treat disabled people as objects of pity and patronage was being challenged all over the world. The disabled had become a powerful pressure group in Britain, the United States and Europe. They began to demand and get their share of rights and in turn were prepared to accept their ' share of responsibility. In 1971, the first person with multiple sclerosis was elected to the governing board of the local Multiple Sclerosis Society. The decision was not popular. He was told by a former field officer for the society that he had no right there "because you have multiple sclerosis.’’ This astounding pronouncement would never be tolerated today, such has been the change which has overtaken the multiple sclerosis movement in Christchurch.

In changing to meet the real demands of people with multiple sclerosis, the local society has swept aside outdated attitudes and built a link with the public of Christchurch which gives hope of exciting future developments. It would not have been able to reach this point if

it had not been dynamic and foundations laid in the mid 1960 s are now paying off. The hall which for so long was the centre of multiple sclerosis activity in Christchurch has been sold and together with finance from a legacy, the society bought a house formerly used by the Crippled Children Society, at 148 England Street. This house, now being converted at considerable cost to the society, is simply known to members as “The Centre.” Open five days a week, it is also headquarters for the weekly Activity Sessions for members. These started in the kitchen of the St Asaph Street Hall in 1977. Then, the critics said it would never work. August, 1980, has arrived and it is the focal point of activity for those members of the society who run it and enjoy the regular planned social contact. For some of the members incarcerated in institutions it is the only break they get from the constraints of hospital life. When the society moved its headquarters to England Street, it also ap-

pointed a full time professional director, Mr Barry Hawkins, who is the only person employed full time and paid by the society to work with and for M.S. people in New Zealand. The society again had broken new ground. At about the same time, it applied for volunteers to add to its already dedicated group of community “backers.” Sixty people answered this request and after they were given informal training sessions, it has become one of the mainstays of the society’s work, visiting M.S. people and breaking down one of the greatest barriers for the disabled — loneliness and isolation. The country’s first fulltime co-ordinator of M.S. activities Barry Hawkins first became closely involved with disabled people when, as a young man, he accompanied a group to Lourdes, where he worked voluntarily, in a hospital near the worldfamous Roman Catholic shrine. An Englishman from Cheshire with a ready wit and a unique understanding of the problems which stress and disability pose for people, Hawkins is the catalyst which the society had prepared for. A member of many committees dealing directly with disabled people he is not an "Establishment" personality. Prepared to challenge existing structures, he does so safe in the knowledge that he has taken the steps to find out what disabled people really want. Part of an increasing number of people in Christchurch prepared to listen to the disabled instead of dictating to them from lofty official perches, Hawkins has been able to instil a new sense of direction into the society. Its board of control has also reached out and ensured that more contact is being made with service j clubs and schools so that education on the problems facing M.S.- people is

properly understood. A view that multiple sclerosis is a “new” disease was once understandable because there was little publicity about it. Few knew that it existed. Now more people are aware because public education is a vital part

of the society's work. The field officer for the society is Mrs Yet Schellekens. a busy wife and mother who holds Dutch and New Zealand registered nursing qualifications. She brings a special quality of Dutch “gezelligheid” to her work with more than 200 people. The groundwork for her warm professional approach has been laid in the last few years by other field officers who have drawn the society into the network of health professionals in Christchurch. Mrs Schellekens has added her backing to a new role which the society has created, giving personal counselling for people with multiple sclerosis and their supporters. The personal problems which multiple sclerosis people are forced to face; the fears, frustrations and anger which they must cope with every day for the rest of their lives have

been made easier to bear by the more “human" emphasis given to the Society’s work. The members would not let it be otherwise. As it goes into the 19S0s, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canterbury does so with more faith and courage than many similar groups twice its size. The Canterbury Multiple Sclerosis Society is indebted to the following firms and individuals who sponsored this page: Staffords Shoe Store; Mittons Fashions, Ltd; Quinns, Ltd; Pegasus Cycles, Ltd; P.D. Dunbar, Ltd; Graceys New Brighton, Ltd; Mr John Mitchell; Canterbury (N.Z.) Seed Co; Mr and Mrs Reg Dowthwaite; March Construction Company, Ltd; Peacocks Fashions, Ltd; Andrews and Beaven, Ltd; Gough, Gough and Hamer. Ltd; J. Ballantyne and Co, Ltd; Trethewey and Sons; and D. Veronese.