NATIONAL UPLIFT

Grey River Argus, 5 September 1939, Page 12

NATIONAL UPLIFT

Widespread Organisation 180 DISTRICT COMMITTEES. WORK FOR RECREATION WEEK. A statement by the Hon. W. E. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs, mentions that there is still some misunderstanding among the public about the scope and purpose of the Physical Welfare and Recreation Branch of his Department. “When the Physical Fitness Week was organised for last February,” said the Hon. Minister, “some critics declared that it would be merely a ‘stunt,’ and could not have much effect on the general public. Events proved that the Week itself was an outstanding success, anj that it was the beginning of far reaching activitities which will prove increasingly benefical to the whole public. “The establishment of District Committees, linked with the local bodies, throughout the Dominion, has been brought up to a total of 180. There is in progress a painstaking survey of facilities for sport and recreation throughout the country. Area Instructors have been appointed to train local instructors, to organise classes and clubs, and to advise the commit Ires .generally. A (|roup Travel scheme has been organised to enable people to have refreshing holiday trips which were previously beyond their means and the number that have already availed themselves of the scheme is now in the thousands. There has been an establishment oi new holiday facilities, such as tracks and huts for tramping in the Tararuas and the Southern Alps. Helpful booklets on physical education have been published and distributed. Financial and administrative assistance was given in the “Learn to Swim” campaign. “Furthermore,” continued Mr Parry, “the morning physical exercise sessions by radio, with the help of the Press, proved popular. There is a continuous issue of technical information by letters in reply to enquirers. Altogether, the Physical Welfare and Recreation Branch is working on a very wide front to help New Zealanders of all ages to increase healthful enjoyment of life.

“The policy is wholly national in its 9cor>“ and puroose. It provides for a maximum of helpful co-operation of ’he National Council with the District Committees. Every effort Is made for the best possible co-ordination of activities. Existing organisations for sport and recreaton are helped in the furtherance of their good work.

; “The decision to have a Recreation i Week ’from September 29 to October [7. is a natural sequel to the Fitness Week of February. The appeal will be wider because the programmes will include the whole range of indoor as well as outdoor sport, music and hobbyist exhibitions. The emphasis in these departments will be on their recreative and ' entertaining aspects rather than on the aspect of physical fitness, which was the main preoccupation of Fitness Week. A nice balance of participation in Recreation Week can be attained, since the outdoor sports are particularly suitable for day-time activity and the indoor sports for evenings. Spectacular outdoor snorts are, of course, well known to the public but there are others whose merit is not yet widely appreciated, because the games have not been much in the public eye. Recreation Week will provide the opportunity to introduce the “cinderellas’ to the general public. ’ “I have reason to believe that the organisation of Recreation Week will prove a comparatively simple matter —far more so than Fitness Week—because Physical Welfare and Recreation Committees are now in operation in most countries, boroughs and townships throughout the Dominion. The . organisation of the week will imposi

no great burden on them. Having drawn up, in consulation with the organisations interested, a programme of dates throughout the week, it may be reasonably expected that the organisations will enter most enthusiastically into the' effective use of their own particular occasion. Since the District Committees are in need of funds for the general promoton of Physical Welfare and Recreation within their localities, an equitable arrangement for the division of profits will help them materially. “The main indoor sports organisations which are likely to wish to take advantage of the opportunities of Recreation Week are those of table tennis, badminton, dancing, basketball (includings mens basketball), voiley ball, boxing, weight-lifting and wrestling; and in outdoor sports the three codes of football, hockey, golf, basketball, curling, harriers, skiing, and skating. “It needs no great effort of the imagination to see the attraction of this scheme to players and spectators alike. All sorts of fixtures of a more representative or spectacular nature are likely to be in process of arrangement for the end of the winter sport and recreation season, and it should be possible to arrange for -some of the best spectacular events between the dates of September 29 and October 7, as a fitting medium of participation in Recreation Week. Finally, the advantage of having the lions of sport lie down with the lambs in a spirit of co-ordination is surely going to be in the best interests of recreative activity in this Dominon.”