NEW Y.W.C.A. RESIDENCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2502, 1 July 1915, Page 2

NEW Y.W.C.A. RESIDENCE

OPENED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON* So great has been the press for accommodation at the Hostel and annexe of the Young Women's Christian Association that the Board of Directors has felt it absolutely necessary to* acquire another building with which to meet this unceasing demand, and accordingly the board has taken the residence lately <jc— cupicd by Mr. W. F. Ward in Brougham Street. Built originally as a pi^ vato school, and afterwards used as an annexe to the Wellington Boys' College it may be imagined that the building is airy, well situated, and roomy and would therefore Answer its present purpoee admirably. Since it has come into the hands of the association some of the rooms have been freshly 'papered, and a portion of the downstairs floor has been fitted up as cubicles for the accommodation of about eleven girls: With their eream Walls, cream curtains, and wardrotas and duchess chests, they look very daintily fresh, with an air of seclusion,' that is not always to be found in connection with cubicles. On the same floor are the dining room, office, and tho girls' sitting room, all large, brightlooking rooms, with the promise of be< coming very "homey" in a little while, with the addition of knick-knacks that time invariably brings to a place. The kitchen is a very large bright room, and for those who have to spend so much of their time in it, should possess advantages that will undoubtedly make themselves felt in both summer and winter. Upstairs the bedrooms are all large, and the greater number of them (eight in all) have been furnished for two inmates each. The papering of the rooms is_ fresh and dainty looking, and all thoj windows have pretty outlooks. Both tho. balcony and the verandah are like< ly to be favourite haunts of the inmates of the Hostel. ' ' It is a very modest sum that is b&c ing asked as the weekly tariff, and in these days when the cost of living has gone up so considerably, and is likely to increase as time goes on, the sum 01. fifteen shillings for board is somewhat surprising. Miss Roughton is the matron in ■ charge, and the Hostel is' .supposed to accommodate forty-four inmates. Her Excellency the Countess of Liverpool, who was received by the president' of the association, Mrs. Pearson, and the honorary president Miss M'Lean. opened the Hostel, and wished it all success. She spoke cf the additional interest she had taken in .the association since she had come to see more of' its work, and also alluded to what it had been .doing in connection with tha war work. ' Miss M'Lean made an earnest appeal to those present to realise that since tha war had broken out there was even morei need for practical and substantial interest to be taken in the work of tho' Y.W.C.A'. since more girls had come' to town to take up positions of various kinds for whom they wanted to make at home. , Her Excellency, who was presented with a bouquet of violets, was after-i wards taken over the building, with! which she was greatly pleased, and afternoon tea was handed round by/ members of the association. Among those present, in addition to the Countess or ■ Liverpool and the members of the board, were Lady Ward, the Mayi oress (Mrs. J. P. Luke), Miss Coates, MissLawson, and-many friends of th§ association, - -" (Continued on next page.)