DAY NURSERY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 38, 15 February 1938, Page 14

DAY NURSERY

ANNUAL MEETING YESTERDAY

The. annual meeting of the Citizens' Day JSTursery wasield at the nursery yesterday afternoon. , The Minister of Health (the , Hon. P. Fraser) was in the chair. :'■': The president; Mrs. F. T. Clarke, in her report, spoke of the inadequacy of the present building in which the nursery is housed, and of the added work imposed upon the staff whose duties already tax them to the full. "Of course," she said, "we do not want to lag behind in the splendid w6rld-wide work of child-welfare which Mr. Fraser, as Minister of Health andiEducation, must have very at ih'eart. This nursery has; cost jus hundreds of pounds in, repairs and alterations, and yet is quite'inadequate. Ai number of children have; to. be turned away as the placets not: sufficiently large or suitable to 'house the necessary staff to' look after .them. There is no privacy-for the staff/which has to have meals in the common room where the children play and have their meals." -" '\ The matron,-Mrs. Hilda Eiby, was specially commended for her excellent work, as also .was the staff of nurses who are trained in the. care of children. ' Mrs. Clarke thanked the committee for its support during the past year, and those who had contributed to the work of the nursery either by gifts in kind or by donations. Mr. Fraser said that the day nursery, was of considerable value'in the community. -He paid tribute to',the>,valuable social work1 done by the committee, and mentioned that it had lost a very.fine worker in the person o£ Lady .Gray, who left in October for an extended trip abroad. Shejhad been the chief worker and a great inspiration to the committee since the nursery's inception sixteen years ago. Her heart and soul .were in the work. Mr. Fraser assured the. committee of the Government's great interest in its work for the nursery and said that it would do all in its power to help. An important matter discussed was the nursery building itself. It was stated that the present lease would expire.in May, 1939. Suggestions for the future position of the nursery were made, and it was decided that the present locality,' which is flat and sunny, and has the additional value of being easily : accessible to the city, is most suitable. . If ..the present building is extended and'modernised it will be-ideal for the purpose, but if a new building is to be constructed it will be advisable to keep the locality in ; view as a building site.'Suggestions that l the nursery: in 1939 should be moved to more distant parts of the city were negatived. . . , ' . ;.'.- A member of the committee mentioned that 15i000 children had passed through . the institution without a single accident, a fact that reflected much credit on the matron's ability. The balance-sheet was read and passed as satisfactory. The committee was re-elected to office for the ensuing year. A resolution was passed expressing sorrow at the death of Sir Truby King and sympathy with his relatives. On the motion of Lady Frazer a vote of thanks was accorded the chairman, Mr. Fraser. Members of the committee present I included Mrs. F. T. Clarke,. Mrs. T. C. A. Hislop,< Lady Frazer, Mrs. J. A. Doctor, Mrs. David Goutts, Mrs. Adamson. Mrs. Norman, Mrs. C. Atkinson. Mrs. Cornish, Mrs. Firth, Mrs. Kirk, Mrs. Addison, Mrs. A. F. Mitchell, Mrs. A. B. Sievwright, I"rs. R. ,D. Oliver, Mrs. Scholefield, Miss Townsend, and Miss C. M. Gow.