SOCIAL SERVICE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 47, Issue 2668, 10 September 1937, Page 8

SOCIAL SERVICE

GROWTH IN ENGLAND COMMUNITY COUNCILS BETTER COUNTRY LIFE. Lord Bledisloe, president of the council, presided at the annual meeting of the National Council of Social Service. The Duke of Kent (a vicepatron) attended and commended the working partnership between those who are in the service of the Government and those who are engaged in voluntary movements.

Perhaps the policy of the National Council could, said the Duke, be best expressed in three words—Unity, not Uniformity. Freedom of association combined with variety of expression were in themselves of great value and were typical of this country. But their value was greatly enhanced if they were directed to a common end-in this case, the service of the community, whether in city, village or on some new housing estate. At their new housing estates conference this year 60 local authorities sent delegates to confer with the representatives of the voluntary associations. That was a great change since 1030, when a few people from five housing estates met >to plan what was now a national movement. Prosperity of Country Life. “To-day,” the Duke continued, “the National Council is providing help to 90 municipal estates where community centres are planned or are in being; but there is still much to be done. I am pleased to see the progress that has been made in the building and improvement of village halls — the community centres of the villages—and I note that a short while ago the Development Commissioners expressed the view that the rural community council offers one of the most hopeful means of promoting the prosperity of country life.

“The value of the council’s work for unemployed people has been widely recognised by the community during the . past few years. Despite the improvement of the last few months, unemployment remains a tragic fact in the lives of many people. “There is now closer association of the clubs for unemployed men and women with the normal community life of their neighbourhoods, and in this way the ill-effects of being classed as unemployed are being broken down. The council, therefore, does not regard this part of its work as a temporary expedient to meet a passing phase of industry, but as a constructive attempt to deal with the social implications of a problem which in varying degrees is likely to remain a permanent challenge to modern society. Working Partnership. “Even more important than results are the methods by which they havee been obtained. It is of great significance to the future social development in this country that this progress has been made possible by what I .can best describe as a working partnership between those who are in the service of the Government and those who are engaged in voluntary movements. I hope that this alliance will continue to become stronger and more effective, and that those who represent voluntary service in this partnership will be prepared to play their part in the new opportunities that lie ahead.”

Hope, Confidence, Self-Respect.

Lord Bledisloe said that the National Council of Social Service had helped materially to develop a sense of communal responsibility, alike in town and country, to promote more spacious opportunities of social and recreational development, and during a period of almost unprecedented economic tribulation to foster hope, confidence, and self-respect among the many thousands whom the curse of unemployment had threatened with

their loss. They entered on a new year in a new reign with stupendous problems awaiting solution, but under definitely favourable auspices, not the least of which was the patronage of the King and the vice-patronage of the Duke of Kent.

Mr Kenneth Lindsay, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, remarked that it was a characteristic feature of the National Council of Social Service that - it worked from the top and from the bottom. It was still true that human beings gathered round somebody who could inspire them. That movement could make a very great contribution to the regeneration of the country, and he congratulated the hundreds of humble workers who were helping to build up the movement from below. Lord Bledisloe was re-elected President of the Council.