"ALL ARE WELCOME"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 53, 2 March 1918, Page 6

"ALL ARE WELCOME"

MOTTO OF THE CHURCH ARMY.

\Y hen . war broke out and the hardeliips of winter campaigns were «.perienced, one of the first bodies to enter the field for the benefit and welfare of the soldier was the Church Army. The ■whole of their large and well-equipped organisation waa brought into operation- The motor ambulance of the Church. Army engaged on the Western front now number 50; there were not so many of them in the beginning, but thev were the first to enter this field of work. To-day ihis body has one thousand rest-huts on the various battlefronts, no fewer than two - hundred and twenty being in the actual firing-line. In places where it ia not possible to erect a hut, or erven a tent, these rest-places are located in ruined buildings, cellars, and even in dug-outs. Fifty kitchen care, each capable of making 300 cups of hot drinks at a boiling, are at-work daily behind the trenches, supplying refreshment to the men coming out. And. in London, across the water, hundreds of beds, for soldiers on leave, are provided in hoetels. included among which are such buildings ,as Buckingham Palace Hotel, which was handed over to the Church Army by the Imperial Government. During the cast seven months funds have been raised in New Zealand to erect ten Church Army huts, at a cost of £SOO each. The upkeep of the huts amounts to £SO each. The Church of England Military Affairs Committee, which controls all the institutes for soldiers in New Zealand, on the transports and overseas, is now appealing for funds to carry on the noble work. All told, upwardfT of £1,000,000 has been spent on this work since the war began, and the "hutfi and hostels and other places so- provided .are open to all, irrespective of sect or creed, the motto being ''All are welcome."