RED CROSS SOCIETY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20951, 2 November 1939, Page 4

RED CROSS SOCIETY

CRECHE AT EXHIBITION STAND IN INDUSTRIES SECTION With the opening of the Exhibition next week several aspects of the Red Cross Society’s work will be seen by thousands of visitors to Rongotai. namely, practical assistance applied to everyday life in the running of the Exhibition’s creche, and something of the humanitarian and international influences of the society at the Red Cross stand in the New Zealand Manufacturing Industries Section. The creche, which is situated opposite the principal entrance from the tramways has been furnished and equipped by the Exhibition authorities and handed over to the Red Cross Society to be run under its auspices for the duration of the Exhibition. It will be in the charge of qualified Red Cross nurses assisted by a staff of specially-trained V.A.D. nurses and will provide accommodation for a total of forty babies and children up to the age of four years. At one end of the building is an airy nursery furnished with cribs, cots, heaters, and everything necessary for the care and well-being of babies, and at the other is a big playroom well stocked with toys to suit all capacities and tastes. The central portion of the block includes the reception office where the children are “booked in” and carefully labelled, cloak-rooms with numbered towels and face-cloths for each child, a storage-room for prams and go-carts, and a well-equipped kitchen where feeding bottles and Lunch packets can be stored away in the refrigerator and prepared at the appropriate hours. The creche will open with the Exhibition every morning and closes at 5 p.m. A nominal charge will be made. Exhibits of Work by Blind At the society’s stand in the Industries section a comprehensive display of Junior Red Cross work will be seen, including portfolios and handicrafts from otner lands, notably Japan and Czechoslovakia, and specimens of work made by New Zealand members of the Junior Red Cross. In addition there will be demonstrations and specimens of Braille work by the Wellington Braille Club, which works in conjunction with the society, for the purpose of teaching the system to the blind and transcribing books into Braille. The principal exhibit will be the Centennial Braille Book, an anthology of articles, stories, and poems by New Zealand authors, which has been compiled and transcribed and is now being brought to finality by the honorary secretary, Mrs J. R. Boyd, and the members of the club. There will also be a display of handicrafts made by the blind. #

Meanwhile the work of the society in the field of training has been proceeding steadily and a new activity —that of a transport section—was launched at a large and enthusiastic meeting held in the Red Cross rooms last week. A further publication, “Knitting Instructions,” compiled for the Wellington Red Cross Society by Mrs J. Mawson, has just been released. The booklet contains instructions for knitting socks, balaclavas, mittens, scarves, etc., for use on active service.