Seamen’s Mission Work In Need Of Funds

Wanganui Chronicle, 26 June 1948, Page 4

Seamen’s Mission Work In Need Of Funds

“During the past 12 months 73,352 seamen attended the Church of England’s 'Flying Angel,’ the Roman Catholic's Maritime Club, and the Mission to Seamen and took advantage of the indoor and outdoor entertainments provided by them,” said Mrs. A. McPhail, convener of the annual appeal for the British Sailors’ Society, in an interview yesterday Mrs. McPhail expressed thanks tor the manner in which people of Wanganui had responded to the appeal in past years. “The suppers and Sunday night teas served by the missions totalled 53,194 meals,” said Mrs. McPhail- “In addition, 3685 visits had been paid to ships, 3620 ships’ library books were exchanged and 4025 letters were written and posted at the respective club rooms. “The cost of these amenities is borne by public-spirited men and women who deem it a privilege to extend a welcome and to give a sense of home-coming to these lonely wanderers, whose duties to us keep them far removed from their own family circles,” said Mrs. McPhail. . “The gratitude of officers, men, and parents, expressed to us in letters, is a challenge to us to be worthy of the confidence and reliance placed in us as the custodians of the spiritual and physical welfare of these gallant men who, in peace and in war, keep open the sea lanes that make possible our trade and friendship with Britain and other lands beyond her shores. “Remember what the men of the Merchant Navy done tor us and give something willingly for them next Wednesday," said Mrs. McPhail.