FORMATION OF NEW RED CROSS UNITS IS ADVOCATED

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 May 1949, Page 5

FORMATION OF NEW RED CROSS UNITS IS ADVOCATED

WELLINGTON, Last Night (OC).— The formation of new units in all centres where they are not already established, was urged by Mr. J. Abel, M.8.E., who presided over and addressed a meeting of members of the Dominion Council of the Men’s Red Cross Voluntary .lid Detachments at Wellington on Saturday. The meeting was attended by representatives of Dominion Headquarters, the Ambulance, Fire Brigade, the Junior Red Cross, the 8.M.A., and the Auckland, Wellington, Wanganui, Mana watu and Hutt centres.

There is a growing public awareness of the value of the Red Cross work to the community in peacetime,” sttio Mr. Abel, “but wljile this organisation is already an active body there are fields as yet untouched.* The meeting • welcomed back Miss Iris Crooke, of Marton, Director-Gen-eral of the V.A.D.’s, from her visit to the Stockholm conference last year. Miss Crooke gave an acocunt of training in England and on the Continent, where she made a special study of the Red Cross organisation and methods. She emphasised the need for co-opera-tion among all Red Cross groups in New Zealand and international cooperation as well. Miss Crooke said that world membership of the Red Cross was now 93,000,000. “The number of hours of dutj worked by the Men’s Red Cross is nothing short of amazing,” declared Dr. Alex Gillies, Chief Medical Officer of the Red Cross Society, when he referred to the work done in the past year by the various centres. "The advances made since the last council meeting have been great. We owe a debt of gratitude to those early members for their steadfast work and belief in the ideals of Red Cross training.” Mr. H. Ledbrooke, representing the Fire Brigades, extended their thanks for the assistance of the Red Cross at major fires last year, and urged all centres to continue the specialist unit training with the brigades. "We are aßvays likely to need the Red Cross assistance," he said, "and closa co-ordination is desirable for both organisations.” The work of the past year was discussed and reviwed in detail by representatives of the centres and it was reported that, with increased membership, there had been great expansion in community service—usually appreciated but often taken for granted. It also was reported that the cadet movement has forgd ahead in strength and achievement in several centres, but the financial commitments of the Red Cross, having increased out of proportion to the income, made the problem of financin'? the cadets a very real hurdle. Mr. Abel was re-elected chairman of the Dominion Council for the next two years, and Mr. C. Harkness was also re-elected Commandant-in-Chfef.