GREY COMMITTEE TO ASSIST IMMIGRANTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 November 1947, Page 7

GREY COMMITTEE TO ASSIST IMMIGRANTS

To further the social welfare of the British immigrants, assisted and otherwise, who have recently . taken up residence in the Grey district, an Immigrants’ Welfare Committee will be formed at a meeting to be convened near the end of this month by the Department of Employment and Labour. At present there are 18 men and seven women assisted immigrants employed in the district, as well as a number of other men and women who have come from England since the end of the war.

The services of religious, social and welfare organisations will be coopted by the committee which will function mainly for the purpose of welcoming, assisting and advising new settlers with a view to their being satisfactorily settled and absorbed in the district. While the immigrants who have arrived to date have had little difficulty in settling in the district, it is considered that the committee’s value will be greater after the arrival of further groups of workers.

The committee, which will be given secretarial assistance by the local Department of Employment and Labour, will be asked to make threemonthly reports on its activities to the Immigration Advisory Council, which will comprise representatives of the following organisations:—Department, of Employment and Labour, Employers’ and Manufacturers’ Association, Federated Farmers, National Council of Women and a woman nominated by the Trades Council,, and representatives of churches. The Employment Department will continue to find employment and accommodation for assisted immigrants. but the committee will deal with all other aspects of the work.