AUCKLAND.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume II, Issue 1, 1 July 1911, Page 11

AUCKLAND.

The Campbell Creche. During the past five years the Sisters of the Order of the Good Shepherd have oared for five hundred little oh.ildren whose mothers have been oompelled by the practioal necessities of their ciroumstances to earn a livelihood for themselves and their babies. The work has been carried on under the handicap of insufficient and, m some measure, unsatisfactory accommodation, but althongh its results may not have been forcefully impressed upon the community as a whole, its reward has been the gratitude of some soores of mothers, who, having been relieved from the responsibility of providing for the well-being of their little ones during working hours,, have been enabled to make a Lraver struggle for existence. The nursery was opened on March 23rd, 1906, the ceremony being performed by Mrs T. 0. Williams. An old cottage at the rear of the Mission House was then utilised for the accommodation of the children, who were entrusted to the maternal care of the. Sisters. The nursery rapidly grew into an important branch of the Sisters' philanthropic usefulness, and m thirty months over two hundred children had been taken care of. A review of the work of the nursery was given m the annual report of the Order for 1 908-9, which stated that any number of children from a dozen to thirty might be found m the nursery on any day. SIR JOHN LOGAN CAMPBELL' S GIFT. The anxiety for finances was much relieved by the splendid response made to appeals for assistance, and during the past eighteen months the friends of the children have grown numerically stronger, and their generosity has been lavish. The problem of accommodation became insistent, but before a scheme for a new building had grown into a .definite form, Sir John Logan Campbell solved the difficulty by offering to provide A NEW CREOHE. The new home for the little children has been completed at a cost of about £2000. It is a neat structure of brick, finished with concrete, rough-cast, and it stands upon freehold property, dj-

rectly adjoining the Mission House. The ground floor will be used by the children entrusted to the Sisters m the day- time only, and the upper floor will be devoted to the purposes of a hostel m which children whose mothers are m either the general hospital or a maternity hospital will be given all the loving care and the cosy comforts of a good home until their mothers can resume their responsibility. The Sisters have not previously attempted to undertake the charge of children throughout the whole of the day and the night, and the new creche will enable them to add to the importance of their service to mothers. A moderate charge will be made for the care o£ the children, but the ciroumstauces of the mother not infrequently throw the whole burden of a child's maintenance upon the funds of the home, and for that reason its success is largely dependent upon the assistance of contributors. A SUITABLE STRUCTURE. The interior walls of the building have been finished with white plaster, and asbestos dados, and all the woodwork has been painted green. This soheme of green and white has been preserved throughout the home. The rooms are spacious, lighted by large windows, and amply ventilated. The principal apartment on the ground floor is the playing-room, and opening off it there is a smaller room, containing a " sand-pit," where the bigger children may build castles and dig with spades, although far from the seaside. A day-sleepingroom, a bathroom, a dryingroom, the kitchen, and an office, are also situated on the ground-floor, and m the basement there is a laundry. The hostel on the upper floor comprises three bedrooms for the staff, with a sitting-room for the use of the. Sisters, a dormitory, and leading from it an outside playground. Throughout the building there is evidence of careful planning, that it may be conducted with the least possible labour, and no pains have been spared m the effort to make the surroundings of the children bright and attractive. OPENING AND DEDICATION. The creche was formality opened and dedicated on 16th May, by Bishop Grossley, warden of the Order of the Good Shepherd. There was a large attendance of representative citizens, and the proceedings were of a most impressive nature, added interest being given by the presence of the generous donor of the creche, Sir John Logan Cjampbell, who was accompanied, by J#dy Campbell,