METHODIST HOMES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 843, 11 December 1929, Page 11

METHODIST HOMES

ORPHANS’ ANNUAL APPEAL LAUNCHED YEAR’S WORK REVIEWED Illuminating proof of the good work being carried on in Auckland by the Methodist Children’s Homes in Mount Albert and Epsom is contained in the annual r.eport, now issued. The annual appeal for retiring collections in churches is to be made next Sunday. The church controls three Auckland homes—Wesley, at Mount Albert (Miss Johnston), Bp worth, at Mount Albert (Miss Coalman), and the Buckland Road Home, Epsom (Mrs. Everiss). The three matrons have under their cure no fewer than 110 children, besides which tho organisation is responsible for a number of children who have been placed in various forms of employment outside the homes. WESLEY’S WORK At Wesley there are 38 children whose ages range from three to 15 years, states Miss Johnston, in her report. The year had been one of difficulty, she claimed, but- the influence of the home was making itself felt, and it was pleasant to see how well the children settled down as members of the home family. There liad been a number of changes during the year, some of the boys going to work on farms and in business, and the .girls to housework. All were doing well. One boy was doing particularly well at Wesley College, Paerata, another was assistant secretary of a Sunday School, and a third taught a class of boys each Sunday. Attendance at school had been regular and reports good. General health had been good, and the work of the staff had been efficient and devoted. In concluding, the matron expressed thanks for the generous gifts and help received during the year from various church bodies. WORK AT EPWORTH Tlie report of the Epworth Home, submitted by Miss Coatman, observes that great kindness and sympathy, much of a practical kind, has been enjoyed during the year. Generally speaking, she added, the health of the children had been good; they were doing very nicely at school, and their reports were good. There were 28 children in residence —16 girls and 12 boys—and the home had four vacancies. In the Sunday School Union examination the home secured two firstclass prizes and nine first-class certificates. The garden was in good order and had supplied the home with vegetables throughout the winter. EFFORTS AT EPSOM Mrs. Everiss’s report states that the Epsom Home admitted four “tiny men” during the year, three of them under three years of age. The older children took tremendous interest in the ones, and there was always a “brother” or “sister” available. The year had been an important and busy one, for the building of a new wing had given much more room and simplified the working of the home generally. “I deemed it a great privilege to comply with your request *to visit some of the distant circuits in the interests of our orphanage work,” Mrs. Everiss adds. “Meetings were held at Tauranga, Paeroa, St. Paul’s, and East Hamilton, Morrinsville, Tahuna, Tatuanui, Waitoa, Matamata and Te Awamutu. The ministers, in conjunction with the women’s guilds, gave me the best opportunity to tell our story, which was listened to with keen interest. I cannot over-stress the need for some one taking up this work. The lack of knowledge of the working of our homes is very deplorable, and yet one can understand this, for the folk out of Auckland have no opportunity of coming into close contact with the homes.”