THE CITY MISSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 139, 15 June 1939, Page 10

THE CITY MISSION

FIELDEN TAYLOR'S

WORK

FORM OF MEMORIAL

HOME FOR SIXTY BOYS

An announcemnt is made today by the Wellington City Mission of the proposed form of the memorial to the late Rev. T. Fielden Taylor,- City Missioner from 1919 to 1937. It will take the form of a home for boys, to cost about £13,000, and the memorandum outlines the methods bjj which it is proposed to raise the necessary funds. It is explained that when the

memorandum was proposed it was recognised that adequate buildings would be the most desirable form for it to take, and a commission of inquiry having decided that the mission should continue to work along the lines established by Mr. Taylor, and the Rev. | Harry Squires having been appointed as City Missioner, all is now ready to move forward. The statement proceeds: — "This work can no longer be carried on in the inadequate and dilapidated buildings housing the Boys' Hostel. The present building, originally a family residence, is entirely unsuited *o its purpose, and has indeed, for some years been condemned by the authorities. The Trust Board of the mission has therefore decided to proceed immediately with the erection of a threestoreyed building, adjoining tlie present main mission building in Taranaki Street, to provide hostel accommodation for some sixty boys. This hostel will serve not only lads from the coun--1 y who cannot meet on low wages the high cost of ordinary board in this city, but also boys whose home conditions for various reasons are unsatisfactory, and boys who through lack of the right surroundings and influence are in danger of developing along wrong lines, with harm to themselves and the community

"In this last connection we should like to mention the lads who come to us through the Police Court and the Juvenile Court. Many young delinquents owe their plight either partly or wholly to bad home conditions and the lack of decent, moral Christian influence there; and in such cases Magistrates have often no option but to commit them to institutions which involve something of the penal stigma, with all the disastrous effects that stigma has on a young mind. The existence in the mission of an auequate hostel will provide surroundings in' which this type of boy when placed under our care by the Courts can be encouraged and helped in the correction of wrong tendencies for which he himself is frequent!j' not responsible.

"The project is an ambitious one, but that it is vitally necessary is brought home to the Mission authorities daily. It will cost some £13,500; and though the Fielden Taylor Memorial Building Fund at present totals £4000. the balance, £9500, is a very large amount to an organisation whose current income is always hard put to balance its current expenditure (our bank overdraft; for general funds, which are separate from the Building Fund, is at present £900). It is here, therefore, that we appeal for th_ help of the citizens of Wellington. We propose to raise the money from two sources:—

"1. An appeal for direct giving—a subscription list is now open, and we hope that the people of Wellington will give generously. Donations may be sent direct to the City Missioner, P.O. Box 31. Te Aro (marked 'Memorial Fund'), or through this newspaper. All such contributions, great or small, will be devoted exclusively to the Memorial Building Fund, and will be acknowledged through the Press.

"2. The Centennial Fair to be held in the Town Hall in September will run for a week, and will include, hi addition to the features regularly presented at this annual effort, a novel event in the form of a photographic baby competition. For the latter an entry fee of Is will be charged, and photographs will be exhibited at the Town Hall during the fair, the winner being determined by votes at 3d each. Further details will be announced later, and we are confident that both the baby competition and the fair in general will be generously supported by the people of Wellington. As the fair is one of our regular sources of income for the current expenses of the mission, we are unable, in the light of present calls upon us, to undertake to devote the whole proceeds to the building fund —any memorial to Thomas Feilden Taylor erected by curtailing relief to the poor and distressed would be quite foreign to his nature. We are, however, determined to proceed with the erection of the building immediately; and every penny we can allocate to the fund without trespassing on current needs will be devoted to j it."