TE TAWA NOT REQUIRED

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 22996, 13 September 1944, Page 4

TE TAWA NOT REQUIRED

Insufficient Patients Long Wait For Official Information Advice has been received by the Tc Tawa management committee that the home will not now be required for convalescent servicemen. Tc Tawa has been ready for occupation since March, but no official intimation of the date when patients might be expected was given, and on Monday a definite answer to the committee's requests for information was received when the Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the Red Cross Society advised that the home would not be opened. Announcing this at a meeting of the Timaru Centre of the Red Cross Society, the chairman (Mrs W. G. Tweedy) said that this decision was naturally disappointing, but at the same time there would be a feeling of delight and gratitude that the New Zealand Divisions in the Middle East and the Pacific had been so fortunate in escaping the heavier casualties expected. The committee realised that the position had altered considerably since the project was undertaken. From the Pacific area alone 25 per cent, casualties had been anticipated, but, fortunately these had been much lighter and the actual number of cases of malaria had been negligible. Early this year pensions had been increased and this had automatically reduced the number of patients who would wish to avail themselves of a convalescent home. The authorities, who knew that the committee was going on with the preparation" of the home, should have signified their intentions earlier, Mrs Tweedy declared. The money 7 spent on furnishing and equipping the home need not then have been spent. £l9OO Contributed Mr J. W. Fair, chairman of the management committee, said last night that the committee had decided to circularise all contributors asking what they desired done with their contributions. Throughout New Zealand £l9OO had been given without any appeal being made by the committee or Red Cross Society, and a substantial sum had been given by the Joint Council. The Timaru Centre would not be out of pocket as a result of the preparation of the home, and it was for the individual donors to indicate what they wished done with their contributions.

Te Tawa, which consists of 17 large rooms together with a cottage and 27 acres of land, was bequeathed to the Timaru Centre of the Red Cross Society by the late Mrs W. T. Ritchie on the condition that it was used as a convalescent or rest home for members of his Majesty’s Forces. The offer had to be accepted by March 18, 1943, and after considerable delay in obtaining Government sanction of the project a public meeting was called by the Centre and a management committee formed on March 23. Mr J. W. Fair was elected chairman and Mr T O Fox honorary secretary. Necessary alterations were effected, furnishings purchased and staff employed, and the home was finally ready for occupation on March 7, 1944. The property will revert to the estate.