PLUNKET SOCIETY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 6

PLUNKET SOCIETY

•» ( TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL | MEETING ! REVIEW OF~YEAR’S WORK ! | C j ADDRESS BY MR C. R. FELL J t j The annual meeting of the Nelson ( ] branch of the Plunket Society was held j on Wednesday afternoon. Mr J. A. f Harley, a member of the Advisory Board was in the chair. s In the absence of the president (Miss f Niven) through illness. Lady Rigg. mov- j ed the adoption of the balance sheet t and report, and read the president’s re- j view of the year’s work, which stated: [ The satisfactory balance sheet shows ( that the interest taken in the work of j the Society is a practical one. The j j report of the nurses shows another year , of decided progress in each section of j their work. Visits of mothers and { babies to the rooms alone show an in- c crease of nearly 2,000. and new cases j for the year an increase of 15 per cent. ] on last year’s figures. In the ante- ( natal section we note with pleasure the j increasing number of expectant mothers j who take advantage of the help so ] freely offered them, for it is at this ; , period that the foundation of good , health is established. The post-natal ] ' section also shows an increase and the < ’ ideal of complete co-operation between ) mother and nurse is gradually being ; j accomplished, but it still falls short, j f There is still, alas the so-called Plunket 1 ’ mother whose half hearted adherence to < , Plunket principles constitutes one of the ] 1 nurses’ chief problems. These are the i 1 disloyal mothers who, while assuring ’ ‘ nurse that they are faithfully carrying j . out her advice, boast to others that 1 ' they are acting otherwise. Should their i 3 babies become ill, it is the Plunket diet < that is blamed, and not their variation j 5 of it. You will recognise that such j • disloyalty is a very real stumbling : ‘ block. Our long-cherished aim of the extension of our pre-school section has s been made possible by the nurses devoting the whole of the first Wednesday in each month to the examination of the child between eighteen months and ! school age. This attempt to bridge the long stand- 1 ing gap between infancy and school age is a definite step forward which is meeting with the approbation of the ■ Health Department and in some • branches the active co-operation of the 5 school medical officer and the Education Board. Unfortunately war condi- ’ tions have so- far prevented this ex- ‘ tension in our district. We wish to . give the widest publicity to this sec- . tion and trust that mothers will bring their older children to nurse on this ? day. 1 The increase in the routine work . necessarily entails a considerable inj crease in the nurse’s work, and the ? special Dominion-wide survey of infants f to obtain a new height, weight, age - graph which has been in progress for - several months it is in the nature of an 1 extra. We have to thank both nurses r for the cheerful and competent manner 1 in which they have undertaken it all; ' particularly do we thank Nurse Beatson for the smooth manner in which the work has proceeded. In fact the change over to her position of senior j nurse, with its attendant responsibilities . was accomplished with no dislocation whatever. Further complications, in- , eluding Nurse Riddell’s illness soon after f her appointment, were handled in such ? a manner as to assure us that in Miss i 1 Beatson we have a most efficient senior - nurse. I take this opportunity, the 1 j first that has presented itself, of pubo licly welcoming Miss Riddell to Nelson t (and congratulate her upon the success i she is achieving in this, her first posi- - i tion as Plunket nurse. Both nurses j | have the happy gift of expressing their : ' sympathy with all mothers in these anxious days, and this is much appreci- • ated. ’ 1 When Nurse Hunt left us to take up „ her position as Matron of the Truby “ King Harris Hospital in Dunedin she carried with her the sincere regret and . good wishes of mothers and committee . alike. We are pleased, but not at all { surprised to hear that Miss Hunt is ;. filling the position with distinction. We - j are very proud that she was once our ' i nurse. I have to thank Mrs Lumsden 1 for the gallant manner in which she t has stepped into several unexpected 5 breaches during the year. She has c come to our rescue on several occas--2 ions when relieving has been necessary. ] We also thank Miss Knapp for relieving ’ Nurse Beatson. " In reviewing the nurses’ work I am e sure you will agree with me that the r 5 per cent, increase in their salaries . recently granted to them and subsidised i by the Government was richly deserved. y The sub-branches continue their work most satisfactorily under energetc comI. mittees. Richmond’s work has so ins creased that nurse now spends a whole p day there fortnightly instead of the F former half day. Owing to the removal c of the P.W.D. camp at Gowan Bridge. this sub-branch has closed but during B its short life, nurse’s visits were much appreciated. I now come to a matter which has given us all great pleasure, namely the _ foundation of a sub-committee at t Tahunanui where the work has greatly r increased. This committee is composed entirely of mothers of young children, a very fine example to other mothers. r Their keenness has been most encoure a 6ing, and our funds have also benefited it by their efforts. We wish them cono tinued success and are most grateful to _ them. The now fully-established social func- . tion known as Plunket Mothers’ Day in : conjunction with a bring and buy stall held in our grounds was largely attended by mothers with their beautiful babies. On this occasion Lady Scott gave an interesting address on child welfare work in India, drawing a striking comparison between conditions in New Zealand, and that country. This gathering is a valuable medium for bringing Piunket mothers and workers together, and we are most grateful to our auxiliary mothers’ committee, who are entirely responsible for its organisation, which makes it possible for us to foregather. We also thank them for their financial assistance. We are hopeful that this committee may be the means of fostering interest and a sense of responsibility in mothers towards the Society which does so much for them. Acting on the advice of our Car Committee who advised the replacement of our little Morris roadster which had done 22.000 miles in the six and a half years it had been in use, and which was in need of somewhat extensive repairs, we have acquired a nearly new 1939 Morris 8 Saloon. The car is proving most satisfactory, and has already! effected a saving in petrol, besides af fording greater protection against the weather. The Hounsell Bequest of £IOO left to us some years ago for general, funds greatly facilitated the financial side of the transaction. Our thanks are ' due to Messrs Biddle. Collins and Har-! ley for their practical advice in this purchase. .. Th , e n °tffi ca ti° n from the xecutors of the late Mrs Helen Pattie that we are to receive a bequest of £IOO from her estate for our general funds has been! acknowledged with grateful thanks. Mrs ; 1 attie had been a contributor to our Society for many years, and this further practical evidence of her sympathetl® ~ " t erest. besides being a welcome addition to our funds, is a fine example to others. Our street collection on Founders’! Day the jumble sale, and the mothers’ •stall, all show increased returns. This!

applies also to our house to house collection, which this year reached a record figure. This task, never an easy one. is nevertheless considerably lightened by the kindly manner in which our collectors are met. For this splendid support I wish to thank the public of Nelson. To my committee I extend my most grateful thanks for tjae enthusiastic manner in which they have responded to every call. I thank my executive especially for their co-oper-ation and advice. lam greatly indebted to Mrs Duncan who filled the position of hon. secretary so competently (also Mrs Duncan who has assisted so cheerfully with secretarial duties). The whole work of administration is considerably lightened by having such a qualified person as Mr Blomfield as hon. treasurer. He has my heartfelt thanks. In addition I wish to thank Mr Fletcher, our auditor, who yearly bestows the hallmark of approval upon our balance sheet. My committee looks forward cheer- | fully to another year’s work, perhaps more difficult than the years that have passed, for as members of a women’s organisation we feel that it is our special privilege to work for the wives and children of those who are fighting for their country. In appealing for the continued sympathetic support of the public, I feel completely justified to-day in stressing the vital importance of Plunket work. War, alas means wastage of human life; The Plunket Society’s ideal is to help preserve life. In these nerve-racking days, surely it is the mothers and the babies who demand our first consideration. It is essential that the coming generation grow up strong and virile, to play their part worthily in the difficult days which, after this world upheaval must undoubtedly lie ahead of them. Remember it has been said "The world marches forward on the feet of its little children.” Let us do our share to ensure that it does so. In conclusion may I express the fervent hope that at our next annual meeting we shall gather in an atmosphere of world peace, a peace founded on honour, justice and security. The report was adopted. NEW OFFICERS The election of officers resulted:— President, Miss Nevin; vice-presidents. Lady Rigg, Mesdames F. A. Bett, J. H. Cock, R. H. Davies. C. Y. Fell, K. S. Farmer, T. Field. T. E. Hudson. F. V. Knapp. W. Lock, E. R. Neale. W. Rogers, J. R. Wallace and Miss Hunter Brown; general committee. Lady Scott. Mesdames J. W. Biddle. H. G. Brodie, C. Cannington, R. A. Craighead. H. H. Dawson. R. Grace, A. R. Griffin, F. Grear, J. A. Harley, J. Hurrell, R. Hunt, R. C. Jennens, L. Meadowcroft, N. Pownall. M. Rout, W. H. Stride, N. S. Tankersley, C. A. Cumming, R. Moore, H. Robertson and Miss Rhodes: associate committee. Lady Easterfield. Mesdames A. H. Bisley, A. Campbell-Smith, M. Carmichael, C. H. Chamberlain, F. J. Earle. A. Gould, H. Hurst. J. P. S. Jamieson, T. Johnston, W. Kirby, S. A. Lucas. T. E. Maunsell, P. R. Parker. H. Pitts-Brown, A. E. Tasker, S. M. Wiggins, H. V. Searle. Vautier, Misses Blackett and Knapp; advisory board, Messrs C. M. Collins, R. Dagger, H. R. Duncan. C R. Fell. A. Gould. J. A. Harley, H. V. Searle, J. N. Smith, Drs. Bett. Jamieson, Low and Williams; hon. solicitor. Mr C. R. Fell; hon. auditor, Mr H. C. Fletcher; hon. secretary, Mrs R. S. Duncan; hon. treasurer, Mr S. Blomfield. In moving a vote of thanks to the nurses Miss Rhodes voiced the appreciation of the sterling work they had done during a difficult year. The chairman in the course of his remarks said that the report and balance sheet were proof of the very satisfactory year, and he congratulated the committee and members for their excellent work and the public for their generous support. FOUNDER’S DAY An address was then given by Mr C. ! R - Fell. As the meeting was held on Founder’s Day. Mr Fell spoke of Sir Truby King, one of New Zealand’s most notable men. Sir Truby conceived the idea of his world famous work in Dunedin in 1907 during his research at Seacliff Hospital. He propounded the ; theory of research in infant welfare at a public meeting in Dunedin, and due to his driving force and organising power, a voluntary society was formed, which had forged steadily ahead as the’ Plunket Society. He was greatly help- ; cd at that early stage by Miss McKinnon and Mjss Pattrick who worked with him as nurses (Miss Pattrick later becoming nursing advisor to the council). From that time, Mr Fell said, the work of the Society has progressed, widen- , ing its field, and advancing with the advance in scientific research, a splendid memorial to the vision of its founder. He concluded by saying that the surest way of keeping Sir Truby’s memory green, was to continue with the same keen interest that had always been shown by Plunket workers.