SOCIAL WORKER

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22475, 9 January 1943, Page 3

SOCIAL WORKER

Former Wellington Girl An interesting visitor to Wellington Is Miss Lyra Taylor, M.A., LL.B., who is the guest of her - mother, Mrs M. Taylor, Kelburn. Miss Taylor, who arrived by plane from Australia, has just completed a threc-year-term of office as general secretary of the Sydney Y.W.C.A., which she built into a large community centre, as well known to the men of the city as to the women and girls. During her first year she launched "Open House” for men of the fighting forces during the weekends. Volunteers are responsible for the running of it, 300 in the canteen section, 250 in the entertainment section, and over 1000 on the dance roster. Other wartime ventures started under Miss Taylor’s regime were the A.I.F. Women’s Club for the mothers and wives of men overseas and the “Three Services Younger Set” Club. The former has a membership of 1000 women and the latter 800. Miss Taylor, who is a trained social worker and a graduate in Social Economics of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has also been identified with the School of Social Studies of Sydney University as a lecturer, and as a member of its board of directors. At the Y.W.C.A. she has given a continuous series of training courses for volunteer workers in connection with group work and community service. She was educated at Wellington Girls’ College and graduated in law at Victoria University College. She was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar and for a few years practised in Wellington, but became interested in social aspects of law, and went to the U.S.A, to study methods and procedure of Juvenile Court work, visiting leading centres in Canada as well as the U.S.A, for this purpose, and identifying herself with professional social work in both places. For three years before going to Sydney she was associate general secretary of the Y.W.C.A., Montreal, Canada.