NURSES’ MEMORIAL FUND

Evening Star, Issue 21131, 17 June 1932, Page 11

NURSES’ MEMORIAL FUND

ANNUAL MEETING The annua) report of the Committee of the New Zealand Nurses’ Memorial Fund, which will be presented at the fifteenth annual meeting, on Friday next, states, inter alia: — At the beginning of the year under review, the committee had twenty-two annuitants in receipt of help, and the year closed with twenty-six annuitants, on the list, a number which has since increased to twenty-seven. The amount disbursed during the year in annuities and relief to nurses has been £1,257, as against £1,090 during the previous year, an increase of £167, while our assured income has risen to £1,362, as against £1,334, an increase of £2B. The position is that the committee’s commitments for the present year are at the rate of nearly £1,400 per annum, leaving no margin of assured income to meet costs of administration and any other claims which may arise. This position is unsatisfactory, and if the new legislation in reduction of interest by stamp duty applies to the fund, the shrinkage of tho income will, it is feared, necessitate a revision of the amount of the grants, which are at present not as liberal in many cases as the committee would like them to be. The committee has made I’oprosentations as to the hardship involved, and is in hopes that they may not be without effect. The committee again has to acknowledge gratefully contributions amounting to over £l9O from nurses and nurses’ associations, an amount equal to their contribution last year, but regi’ets that its appeal to tho public last year has not been more successful. Contributions from tho public fell from £SB to £2B, and even the fiixancial position of the community fails to justify this lack of- i-ecognition of the claims the nursing profession has on the gratitude of the public at large. The cost of administration remains at about 2 per cent of the amount distributed. The committee has undergone a very serious loss in the death of Miss Helen Williams, who had been secretary since the fund was initiated. She was keenly interested in its work, and never spared herself in furthering its objects, while the sympathy and tact she displayed in her correspondence added a personal touch to tho committee’s relations with beneficiaries which was much appreciated by them. Mrs Bundle has kindly undertaken tho duties of secretary to the fund, and the committee’s thanks are due to her and to Mr M'Kiuuou, the treasurer, who carry the burden of tho administration of the fund.