HOLIDAY SCHEME

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22471, 5 January 1943, Page 4

HOLIDAY SCHEME

Families Of Soldiers

A scheme to provide holidays for the wives and children of servicemen who have been killed or taken prisoner overseas has been initiated in the Auckland Young Women’s Christian Association Down Town Club. Financed by donations from the members of the club, this scheme will be the first of the kind in Auckland. It is proposed to use the Blockhouse Bay holiday house of the Y.W.C.A., which has been given by the board of directors of the association for the purpose. There is accommodation for 40 at a time. Preference is to be given to wives and children of servicemen who have been killed, and then to the wives and children of men who are prisoners of war. Each mother and her children will be given a week’s holiday, and the immediate objective is to provide for a total of 160, the scheme thus extending over four weeks from Boxing Day. Should funds permit, it might pe possible to extend it till the end of the school vacations.

A notable feature of the undertaking is that the donations are being made, in the main, by young people, so that it will be a case of youth helping youth. The Blockhouse Bay property is splendidly situated for the purpose, with five and a half acres of ground and within easy reach of the beach.

The general secretary of the Y.W.C.A. in Auckland, Miss Elsie Bennet, said the house will be under the control of a matron, and there will be a cook and a nurse. Members of the Down Town Club will assist with the care of the children. Mothers who wish to take advantage of the offer should communicate with Miss Bennet.