NURSES’ MEMORIAL

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21086, 12 July 1938, Page 10

NURSES’ MEMORIAL

21 YEARS OF BENEFIT It is stated in the twenty-first annual report of the New Zealand Nurses’ Memorial Fund that during the period the fund had been in existence the sum of £lB,OOO has been distributed in annuities and grants to nurses, who, but for this help, would have been in dire distress. Owing to the good will of generous donors the fund has accumulated to about £32,000, which brings in an assured, but by no means adequate, income to meet urgent appeals. It has been suggested that Government action will render the fund unnecessary, but the committee is of opinion that if the proposed scheme for superannuation comes into effect there will still be need for the fund to supplement the pensions of the old and frail and meet the many cases of distress that a general scheme of superannuation would not meet. It is mentioned that the cost of administration of the fund has been only £29—a trifle over 2 per cent, of the amount disbursed. Of the 30 nurses, who were on relief at March 31, 1937, two had dropped out, but seven new members had been added, making the number of annuitants 35 in March of this year. The amount distributed during the year has been £l2Bl, less £52 repaid by a nurse previously on the fund, as against £1314 in the previous year. The monthly cheques for the year were £ll5, representing nearly £l4OO in annuities alone, while the decreased rate of interest on some of the Government securities reduced the annual income to £1065 for the year under review. Mention is made of the generous help given by the nursing profession through their local organisations, but contributions from the general public were disappointingly small. Legacies had been a help, and are acknowledged gratefully. “Our warmest thanks are due to Mrs Bundle and Mr McKinnon, on whom the administrative burden falls,” states the report. “A special meed of gratitude Is also due to Mr Monkman, who was secretary to the provisional committee which initiated the fund and has for twenty-one years acted as our honorary auditor, for his services and his continued interest in our activities.” Miss Lambie, R.R.C., is the Wellington representative of the fund.