HELP IN NEED

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 1, 1 July 1925, Page 9

HELP IN NEED

SICK AND WOUNDED

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION

ADDRESS BY THE GOVERNOR-

GENERAL. ,

His Excellency the Governor-Gen- .. eral, Sir Charles Fergusson, presided at the annual meeting of the St. John Ambulance Association at the Town Hall last evening. He emphasised the great value of the work of the organisation, and added that the work could not be thoroughly and' satisfactorily carried out until . the organisation was in possession of a suitable building, and was provided with the necessary equipment, including an ambulance. ' His Excellency said it gave him great pleasure in being present to show the interest he took in the work of the association.. It seemed to him that the report of the past year's work of the organisation was in eveiy way a satisfactory one. It recorded steady progress throughout the year. He had had an opportunity of looking through the report pretty carefully from beginning to end, and he hoped shortly that he would be able to give evidence that he had done so. He had been very much struck with the evident vitality of the association. In every branch it had shown advance. The number of those who'had undergone training was considerably greater than during the previous year. The progress made was especially noticeable when the figures for the past year were compared with those of two years ago. A perusal of tho report showed what an enormous amount of work had been done^ Under the heading "District Nursing Guild, Wellington Centre," it was stated that during the year 2190 visits were paid by the nurses to patients in their, own homes, and 668 cases were treated at the office of the guild. The total number on ■ the ■' roll since the appointment of the first district nurse was 4629. GREAT AMOUNT OF GOOD DONE Those figures, said His Excellency, spoke for 1-themselves, and they showed what a great amount of good the association was doing in the community. The report of the Wellington-Nursing Division and the Wellington South Nursing Division^ also proved that the association not only did good work, but filled a great want in the district. He was rather interested in looking up some records of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem to see that New Zealand took the lead in the overseas dominions in establishing a brigade ambulance. He was already sufficiently a New. Zealander to be able to, feel pride tol see that New Zealand led in this as in: other great work of serving humanity. As regarded finance, the committee appeared to' be fairly well satisfied. He had taken the liberty, however, of pointing out that they had credited themselves with £10 too much in the report —(laughter)—but' he was happy to say that later on he was also able to point out that they had neglected to credit themselves with something like £90. (Renewed laughter.) He hoped, there-, fore, that his investigations had shown that they were £80 better off than was shown >in the balance-sheet. SUITABLE BUILDINGS A point which he wished particularly to draw attention to was tlie building fund. That fund had increased since 1923 by something like £350, and had now reached £3000. The committee hoped to be able this year to come forward with a definite plan for the construction of suitable buildings. : His Excellency said he did want to' make a plea for those buildings, because it seemed to him that the work of the association could never be really satisfactory until they, were in possession of a suitable building. He had seen the position in another centre where there was a fine hall, with every convenience for the' work of the nurses and for instruction. It also housed two ambulances, which were constantly in use. It seemed to him that Wellington ought .not to be behindhand in such a' matter, and he sincerely trusted that money would be found and provision would be made for what was an absolute necessity if the work was to be properly carried on. ANOTHER AMBULANCE NEEDED "I have read of late in the newspapers," remarked His Excellency, "that there is room for another ambulance in Wellington; and I do feel that an ambulance under the control,of the association, owing to its central position, is far, more suitable for meeting the needs of a. community like Wellington than even hospital ambulances, which may be occupied with other work; and which are not so centrally placed. I do think that the provision of buildings and an ambulance is til crying necessity for this great city." SISTER SOCIETIES , There was another point which | he thought he might be allowed to mention. It would, he thought, be\a gracious act on the part of the association, to recognise the great work which was dbne by the sister association—the Red Cross. "I am sure," said Sir Charles Fergusson, "we wish them well, as they wish us. Some time ago there was considerable rivalry between the two associations. I can assure you that at. Home that, rivalry, if it exists at all, is a very friendly rivalry. The secretaries of the two associations are >in each other's offices every day. The Red Cross and St. John's are working' absolutely hand in hand at Home. (Applause.) They do so in other centres,* and I am sure they do so here. I do think we ought to take this opportunity, and on every possible occasion, of showing that we are in no way jealous or suspicious of them—that we welcome their co-operation, just as they welcome our co-operation. It would be a lamentable thing if two great societies like these, both labouring in the common cause of humanity, were in any way overlaping or being kept apart by any of those old feelings which no longer exist, of jealousy or suspicion between them. I am sure lam speaking your own views on this matter when I say that there is ample room for both asso-ciations—-both organisations working; heart and soul together in the common cause of serving humanity." NOBLE WORK "Before I sit down, I want on behalf of the general public to pay a tribute to the noble work which is being done by the men and women of this association. You know, as I know, that that work is entirely unselfish, gratuitous work in the cause of suffering humanity; and it is a pleasure to think that there is a large; body not only in Wellington, but all over tho world, who are willing to give_ an infinity of time and trouble in equipping themselves educationally and technically to render service to the sick and suffering. Bishop Sprott said he desired to add his hearty appreciation of the splendid

work that had been done, and was now hein^ done, by this ancient association, and ne wished to congratulate members on that work. He thought it was especially fine that so much work was being done amongst our young people. He wished that all the young people of New Zealand v ere brought under the training of tho association. We prided ourselves on our compulsory system of education; but he thought that if the training of. the association were made compulsory for all our young people it would probably be better for them and better for the community than some of the subjects which they were now compelled to learn. It would be very much better for their characters. Familiarity with suffering necessarily dulled our sen-' aitiveness; but he knew of no better corrective of that than to be able to givo practical relief when opportunity offered. He travelled a great deal about the provincial district of Wellington; and in out-of-the-way ' places, miles from doctors and nurses, it had often occurred to him how useful it would be to be able, if occasion arose, to render practical help in cases, of accident. He thought the public ought to be grateful to those who' carried on the work of the society—a most important work. With His Excellency, he hoped that a suitable building for the association would be erected within the coming year.