LEAGUE OF WOMEN HELPERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19905, 27 September 1926, Page 12

LEAGUE OF WOMEN HELPERS.

DUCHESS OF YORK’S INTEREST. VISIT TO THE HEADQUARTERS. (From Ode Own Coruesfondent.) LONDON. July 50. If one would look for surprises they are easy to find in the City of London. As we have had impressed upon us during the last week owing to parliamentary debate on the subject, there are 47 old churches within the coniines of the old London boundary. Many of these ate completely hidden by blocks of business premises. One ancient church which will remain so long as the nation has any pride of nationhood is All Hallows, Barking-by-the-Towor. It was founded in 675 A.n. from the Abbey of Barking, and it is the oldest parish church in i London. New iilterest attaches to it, because it is now the Guild church of Toe H. Just acrosse the road from the church in Old Tower street is an unpretentious building which was a public-house 10 years ago. The greater portion of the house is now occupied by business firms, but the top floors have neon taken by the Toe H League of Women Helpers and transformed into the first hostel for its members. Perhaps it is appropriate that it should be in the city and near the East End of London. Once the social centre of the ancient t»iwn, Tower Hill in these days is a deserted place when the work of the day is done. The hostelry is known as “New June,” (or that was the name of a great house which stood near the spot in _ the Middle Ages. The story of this mediaeval “New Juno” is told in Sir Henry Newbolt’s novel of that name. The girls who live there today have tlie quiet of the deserted city in the evenings. From their roof garden they look down on the broad moat and the gaunt old Tower of London. To the south is the Thames and Tower Bridge, and across the river the southern suburbs as far ns Crystal Palace Hill. It is a scene which is ever changing, and the spectator stands at evening in the quiet centre of a whirlpool of life. VISIT OF THE DUCHESS. The Duchess of York paid a visit to Now Juno a few days ago, and perhaps it is natural that the work of the women helpers should have come into prominence. The Duchess arrived ot the hostel at noon and was met by the president of the league, the Duchess of Devonshire, and members of the council, with whom she had luncheon. She visited the new luncheon club in connection with the league. Hero girls working in the city may have their midday meal afld spend part of an hour in the comfortable clubroom, or on the roof garden. The Duchess climbed to the root garden to seo the view. She was greatly interested in the league’s work. Women’s claim to be connected with Toe H goes back to the very beginning of the idea, for nurses and V.A.D.’s visited Talbot House at Poperinghe during the war. From the moment Talbot House was established women helped by supplying furnishings. It is only during the last two or three years, however, that the women’s branch of Toe H has been put on a proper footing, but it has developed rapidly. “Now Juno” is the only house so far. There is to bo another one at Netting Hill very shortly. There are over 50 branches of the organisation in this country', two groups in Canada, and six in Australia. As for tho work it is much on the lines of tho men's Toe H. Service for others is the keynote. Girls live at “New June,” going to their ordinary business in the daytime. But they give some of their spare time to social work—they run Girl Guides and Cub units, and do other helpful social work. There is the Circle of the Lamp for girls before they leave school. Tn this circle the girls get into the habit of doing something for those who need help. They darn stockings to raise money to send poor children into the country; they provide flowers for hospitals; they invite factory girls to their schools. When they leave school they almost invariably join the league. The symbol of tho lamp is to be adopted by the league, just as it has been in Toe H. The pattern of lamp, however, is to bo different. It is an old-fashioned Belgian lamp on a high stem. There are two reasons for this choice; first, tho war association. and, secondly, because Belgium lias one of the most ancient orders of lay women helpers—tho Beguimage do Bruges, founded in the eleventh century. The order is still in existence.