HOW GIFT WILL BE USED

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21415, 6 March 1935, Page 12

HOW GIFT WILL BE USED

NO DECISION YET MADE STATEMENT BY MR C. J. B. NORWOOD .PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.I WELLINGTON, March 5. No decision as to how Lord Nuffield's gift of £50,000 for the benefit of the crippled children of New Zealand is to be used will be made until Mr C. J. B. Norwood, who is accompanying Lord Nuffield on a brief tour of the North Island, returns to Wellington. Mr Norwood said Lord Nuffield had left the decision as to the utilisation of the fund entirely to him, but he had not had time to decide what steps to take. However, it was to be of national benefit, and not for any special district. He hoped, after he returned to Wellington, that a scheme would be devised, having the effect the donor intended it to have, without overlapping on the work of the Government. UNDERTAKING BY ROTARY ORGANISATION NOW BEING FORMED It is almost certain that the £50.000 given by Lord Nuffield for the crippled children of New Zealand will be used in the development of a scheme decided on at the recent conference of New Zealand Rotary in Timaru, according to a statement made yesterday by Dr. P. Stanley Foster, who has accepted nomination for the office of District Governor of Rotary in New Zealand. Dr. Foster said that he had no definite information as yet, but as the first move towards organised assistance of crippled children had been made by Rotary, and as the money had been handed over to Mr C. J. B. Norwood, a prominent Wellington Rotarian. it seemed clear that the gift was intended for the furtherance of the Rotary scheme. If was significant that Mr Norwood had himself given £IOO towards the scheme. "It was definitely decided in Timaru that the Rotary Clubs of New Zealand would form an organisation throughout the Dominion to deal with the problems of rehabilitating crippled children." said Dr. Foster. "Lord Nuffield's gift would give the organisation a wonderful start and put it on a sound footing from the beginning." A Central Executive Dr. Foster said that the organisation would have its headquarters in Wellington. The Wellington Rotary Club, already had the machinery for the formation of a central executive, most of the work having been done by Dr. Gillies, president of the club, and by Mr Campbell Spratt. who had drawn up a constitution. It had been left to the clubs all over the Dominion to continue with the formation" of centres which would be under the control of the central executive. The organisation, once it was fairly started, would be quite separate from the Rotary movement, which was merely interested in its formation. Before the work was begun, a survey would have to be made to find out the numbers of crippled children and the special needs of each patient, said Dr. Foster. The organisation was intended not so much for the treatment of crippled children, as it was felt that a great deal of this work was already being done, but chiefly to see that they were not allowed to be left derelict, and that they were given a chance to take a place in society according to their abilities. Education would oe a principal concern of the organisation. Many crippled children were unable to go to school or were exempted from attendance; but it was possible to educate them to do work for which they were fitted. A child with crippled knees, for instance, could be taught typewriting.

Work in America The organisation which is being fostered by New Zealand Rotary is broadly on the same lines as the work which is being done in the United States of America both by Elks and Rotarians. An American writer stated recently that these bodies have taken up the cause of the crippled child with the definite objective of giving him vocational training commensurate with his physical disability, making him self-supporting and independent. The first problem met in the United States was that which will be first dealt with in New Zealand, namely, to find the children and list them for care and treatment. Some parents, it was stated, conceal their afflicted children from enquiries, and an ever larger number have to be persuaded that their children may be made community assets instead of family liabilities. A typical plan which has been carried out in the United States provides first for a census of all crippled children in each district, then for surgical analysis of each case and for necessary subsequent care. It outlines a plan for vocational training and rehabilitation; invites co-operation with local welfare organisations: co-operates with state agencies, and carries on an educational campaign to inform parents that aid is offered to all crippled children in the district.