GARDEN CITY FOR SLUM BOYS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XIII, Issue XVIII, 5 August 1912, Page 2

GARDEN CITY FOR SLUM BOYS.

The boys of Dr Barnardo's Homes, hitherto cooped up in the crowded district of Stepney, now have their own garden "city" at Woodford Bridge, Essex, just as the gilts have theirs at iiarkihgside.

The new estate, which was opened on 23rd May by the Duchess bf Albany, covers forty acres, and gives ample opportunity for training the boys in agricultural pursuits. In order to foster home life, the boys are grouped in detached, self-contained houses, each under the care of a "mother" and assistant mother, who are helned in the housework by their "family." Some three hundred boys are already in residence, and when the scheme is completed there will be about nine hundred.

The Duchess formally opened the first house, erected in memory of King Edward, and afterwards the fine swimming bath, the gift of Mr and Mrs Andrew Johnston. The cost of one of the houses has been defrayed by farthing subscriptions from working men, and another by the Young Helpers' League in memory of Canon Fleming, for a long time their chairman.