HELP IN ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2479, 4 June 1915, Page 7

HELP IN ENGLAND

FOR NEW ZEALAND WOUNDED The interim icport, dated February ■1, ol the \ew Zealand War Contingent Association, of Victoria Street, W e.-l-niinster, London, has been received in Wellington. It states.: "A circular was issued by the commit too to some 3(1(10 New Zrulamler* resident in the I'niied Kingdom, and also to Others having business connections with tile Dominion. The result so iar has been the collodion ol In passing it may be mentioned that this satislaetory total has been reached largely through tlio individual oll'orts of the members of tlio Executive Committee, who made a personal canvas for funds. An account was opened with the London Joint Stock Bank, Victoria Stieet, and arrangements have been mado to place sums at fixed deposit from time to time at current rates of interest, with power of withdrawal on giving seven days' notice. Tho total oil deposit now is £5000. "Olio of the first items of importance for the executive to deal with was that of obtaining hospital accommodation for our men, and through the generosity of Lord and Lady Islington we were offered their house in Chesterfield Gardens, fully equipped for a hospital. Eventually wo were informed by the Iniperial Government that sufficient hospital accommodation had already been obtained. Attention was, therefore, then devoted to the obtaining of a convalescent home, and a special committee was sot up to deal with the numerous generous olfera which had been received by the executive from ladies and gentlemen who offered their houses for this purpose. Choice fell, eventually, upon tho offer of Sir Frederick Cook and Sir Georgo l'ragnell, who placed at the disposal of the committee a wing of their club house, the Rayensbourne j Club at Leo, Kent. At this club we have allocated to us about 100 bedrooms, fitted with hot and cold water, bathrooms, a large tepid swimming bath, sitting rooms, dining ball, smoking room, billiard room, library, and gymnasium; whilst in the grounds are covered tennis courts, a football ground, miniaturo rifle range, and so forth. The cost per head por week t-o the association, for board and lodging, will bo 21s. We thiiik we can say that we have at our disposal a convalescent homo second to none in England. We havo also had largo numbers of offers from ladies and gentlemen anxious to receive our convalescents in their own homes. _ A list of thoso offers has boen compiled so that they can ho utilised as occasion arises. "The Ladies' Committee has been most energetic in collecting and making warm garments for the troops. As a result, they lia.'o now in hand a large stock of socks, body belts, scarves, helmets, mittens, shirts, pyjamas, hospital kits, etc. This stock will soon be considerably augmented as the association recently purchased a quantity of wool, which is now being made nj> by the ladies of the committee and their friends in addition to which soveral schools are wcrking for tbem. "A branch of the association has been opened by Mrs. Walter Young, formerly of Duuedin, at 72 Polwarth Terrace, Edinburgh. Here Mrs. loung has ladies' meetings regularly, and has collected funds in order to purchase wool for the making of comforts. "In answer to advertisements, wo are receiving each day a large number of newspapers and illustrated papers for tho troops in Egypt. Arrangements have also boen made to forward, week by week, a supply of papers. The thanks of the association are due to the proprietors of many newspapers who are sending free each week a large number of their issues. "At the commencement of the war a number of New Zealand trained nurses, resident in the United Kingdom, offered their services as nurses to our men. These ladies originally anticipated being engaged for nursing in Europe, but on account of the altered disposition of the troops their services for the time being are not required in that direction. _ It occurred to the Executive Committee that the War Office might be glad to avail themselves of the services of .these ladies in Egypt, and the matter was laid before Lord Islington, chairman of tho Advisory Board of the Overseas Contingents, to whom was sent a list of names, ages, and qualifications of the applicants. Lord Islington at once moved in the direction required, and, as a result, the War Office took tho matter up, and in all probability arrangements will be mado whereby the services of these and of some fifty other nurses now resident in the Dominion will be utilised. "The committee are glad to report that the existence and usefulness of the association is becoming fully recognised in New Zealand. They havo had very appreciative messages from the New Zealand Government, and several local Patriotic Leagues have made use of our services for distributing money, purchasing requirements, etc., for the units of the New Zealand Contingent in which they were specially interested. "Such is the general outline of the work upon which the Executive Committee has been engaged during the last six months. It has already found accommodation in England for convalescent New Zealand soldiers, and while keeping in view its primary object, viz., the provision of comforts for our men attached to the Expeditionary Force, it has also been instrumental in attending to cases where assistance was required for Now Zealanders on service with the regular Army in France."