CHILDREN'S REST HOME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23686, 19 December 1938, Page 4

CHILDREN'S REST HOME

A "RESIDENTIAL NURSERY" SERVICE TO COMMUNITY NEW WING OPENED Saturday marked the realisation of the 20-year-old ambition of Mr S. Dunkley, manager of the Children's Rest Home in Highgate, when in the afternoon the new wing which completes the present building programme was opened by Dr D. G. McMillan, M.P., representing the Minister of Health (Mr P. Fraser), who sent a telegram apologising for his unavoidable absence. The Mayor (Mr A. H. Allen) was present and unveiled the memorial tablets. Bishop Fitchett presided, and, after conducting the opening prayers, called on Dr McMillan, who was first presented with a key by the architect, Mr H. Mandeno, to perform the opening ceremony. Dr McMillan read the telegram from Mr Fraser which wished the home every success in the future, and paid a tribute to the work of Mr Dunkley and his staff. Valuable Service "The name 'Children's Rest Home' conveys an incorrect impression of the real value of the work done here," Dr McMillan said. The institution, the arrangement of which reflected great credit on the architect who designed it, could est be described as a residential nursery for children when their mothers were ill. Three hundred children were accommodated every year, and people could thus realise the great service the institution was rendering to the community. The Government's appreciation was shown by the generous donations made to the building funds. . . "Nowhere else in the Dominion, Dr McMillan continued, " is there a similar institution. It was started 19 years ago by Mr Dunkley, and was greatly helped by the presentation of this property by the Hill Jack familv. .;,■-.' * No better gift could be given at Christmas time, he concluded, than a donation to the home. Dr McMillan then formally declared the new wing open. An Uphill Fight After he had unveiled the several memorial tablets, Mr Allen stated that it seemed only right that he should announce to whom they were dedicated. The late Mr and Mrs Greenslade had provided £IOOO for a dormitory, and individual cots had been endowed by Mrs E. E. Hall, who had raised the necessary £IOO by selling coat-hangers; by Mrs H. E. Shacklock, in memory of her husband; and a third.had been endowed anonymously in memory of Mr Archibald Hill Jack. For 19 years Mr Dunkley had had an uphill fight, Mr Allan said, but he had carried on undaunted. The need for such institutions was becoming more and more appreciated to-day, and it said much for Mr Dunkley's foresight and vision that he had started the work 19 years ago. First Beginnings " This is an hour I have been looking forward to for the last 20 years," said Mr Dunkley, when he was called upon to speak. "It is 20 years ago last month since this work was really started. At the time of the influenza epidemic of 1918 at the Anglican Children's Home we took in children whose mothers were sick It impressed on me the need for this sort of work, but all along it has not been my work, but God's." When the epidemic was over, there remained Ave children to be cared for, and these formed the nucleus for the home which was established at Vauxhall. This was conducted on a voluntary basis, but voluntary labour being hard to get, Mr Dunkley decided after six months that he would have to get a paid staff to be supported by the public—and support it the public did. Mr Dunkley described how he had sacrificed his business career to continue the work and how the home had been moved from Vauxhall to Sunshine, and thence to its own grounds in Mornington. He had established a building fund to which the business community had responded magnificently, following the lead of Sir Percy Sargood. Plans had been drawn up only to be cast aside on one pretext or another, but finally he had been offered the property left by the Hill Jacks as a home for invalid and crippled children. The terms of the will in this respect had not been able to be carried out, but the matter was taken to the Supreme Court and permis-; sion obtained to use the property as a rest home. "There were three conditions, however," Mr Dunkley continued, " and they were that the property must not be sold, mortgaged, or otherwise disposed of. The institution, therefore, belongs to the people of Dunedin, and consequently it has to go on." Financial Assistance The work was of such a nature, Mr Dunkley said, that neither the Government, the Church, nor the Child Welfare Department dared contribute to it lest they should have to deal similarly with a host of other organisations. The only way the Government could help was through the allocation of art union funds, and from these the home had received £3450, of which £IOOO had been contributed this year. A sum of £3OO was still required for furnishings, however, and he made an earnest appeal for the necessary funds.