WOMEN'S WELFARE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 53, 31 August 1926, Page 13

WOMEN'S WELFARE

DUCHESS OF YORK'S

INTEREST

VISIT TO LEAGUE HEAD-

QUARTERS

TOO H PRINCIPLES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, 24th July.

If one would look for surprises they are easy to fiad in the City of London. Aa we have had impressed upon us during the last week owing to Parliamentary debate on the subject, there are 447 old churches within the confines of the old London 'boundary. Many of these are completely hidden by blocks of business premises. One ancient church which will remain so long as the nation has any pride of nationhood is All Hallows, Barking-by-the Tower. It was founded in 675 A.D. from the Abbey of Barking, and it is the oldest parish church in London. New interest ..attaches to it, because it is now the Guild Church of Toe H.

Just across the road from .the church in Old Tower street is an unpretentious building which was a public house ten years ago. The greater portion of the house is now occupied by business firms, but the top floors have been taken by the Toe H League of Women Helpers and transformed into the first hostel for its members. Perhaps it is appropriate that it should be in the city and near the Bast End of London. Once the social centre of the ancient town, Tower Hill in these days is a deserted place when the work of the day is done. The hostelry is known as "New June," for that was the name of a great house which stood near the spot in the Middle Ages. The story of this mediaeval "New June' is told in Sir Henry Newbolt's novel of that name. The girls who live there to,-day have the quiet of the deserted city in the evenings. Prom their roof garden they look down on the board moat and the gaunt old Tower of London. To the south is the Thames and Tower Bridge, and across the river the southern suburbs as far as Crystal Palace Hill. It is a scene which is ever changing, and the spectator stands at evening in the quiet centre of a whirlpool of life.

VISIT OP THE DUCHESS. The Duchess of York paid a visit to "New June" a few days ago, and perhaps it is natural that the work of the Women Helpers should have come into prominence. The Duchess arrived at the hostel at noon,^ and was met by the president of the league, the Duchess of Devonshire, and members of the council, with whom she had luncheon. She visited the new luncheon club in connection with the league. Here girls working in tho city may have their midday meal and spend a part of an hour in the comfortable clubroom, or on the roof garden. The Duchess climbed to the roof garden to see the view. She was greatly interested in the league's work.

Women's claim to be connected with Toe H goes back to the very beginning of the idea, for nurses and V.A.D.'s visited Talbot House at Poperingho during the war. From the moment TaTbot House was established women helped by supplying furnishings. It is only during the last two or three years, however, that the women's branch of Toe H has been put on a proper footing, but it has developed rapidly. "New June' is the only house so far. There is to be another one at Notting Hill very shortly. There are over fifty branches of the organisation in this country, two groups in Canada, and six in Australia.

As for the work, it is much on the lines of the Men's Toe H. Service for others is the keynote. Girls live at "New June," going to their ordinary business in the day-time. But they give some of their spare time to social work —they run Girl Guides and Cub units, and do other helpful social work. There is the Circle of the Lamp for girls before they leave school. In this circle the girls, get into the habit of doing something for those who need help. They darn stockings to raise money to send poor children into the country; they provide flowers for hospitals; they invite factory girls to their schools. When they leave school they almost invariably join the league. The symbol of the lamp is to be adopted by the league, just as it has been in Toe H. The pattern of lamp, however, is to be different. It is an old-fashioned Belgian lamp on a high stem. There are two reasons for this choice; first the war association, and secondly because Belgium has one of the mof,t ancient orders of lay women helpers—the Beguimage de Bruges, founded' in the eleventh century. The order is still in existence.

85, Meet street,

Lampshades made of shell, hand-paint-ed and edged with gold galon, are the latest novelty. They are decorated in various designs, some with gay fantastic landscapes and others with courtly Watteau figures. Perhaps the most attractive are those decorated with seascapes, for the soft pearly background gives a chaining effect of misty dawn.

Quite a curious story comes from Marlborough about the carelessness of children with their clothes. At a Blenheim school recently, there was a heap of clothing—quite a hundred garments, including coats, hats, and caps, etc.— and the children were lined up and asked to claim what belonged to them. Some ■ things were claimed, but there was quite a considerable residue, which the headmaster will forward to one of tho charitable associations for distribution. The principal informed a reporter that all tlio things had collected in two terms. It looks as if the people in Marlborough were particularly well off to be able to allow the children so many clothes that an overcoat or more would not be missed. In most places little Johnny or Jane would be sent back to schoal to look for a missing garment, or at least instructed to ask for it on the next school day. It is particularly remarkable that the goods should not have been claimed when exhibited, and owners inquired for at the school.