£15,000 WANTED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 213, 3 June 1919, Page 6

£15,000 WANTED

FOR Y.W.C.A. WORK

BUSINESS MEN TO ASSIST

"Wellington lias been very good to tho boys for many years past, and it is time it did something for tho girls," said all official of the Y.W.C.A. to a DoniNipN reporter yesterday. "The Y.M.C.A. site was given to tho boys by a woman, the Boys' Institute was largely the gift of a woman, and the Missions to Seamen (for tho older boys) was the gift of a. woman, yet no one seems to come forward and do something for the girls, so wo are going to try. It is to be our endeavour to raise the sum of £15,000, and I'll tell you exactly what wo want it for, and you will then know what tho Y.W.C.A. is doing and what it intends to do. This movement was commenced in Wellington fourteen years ago in two small rooms on Lambton Quay near the Bank of New Zealand. From that we went to rooms ovor Pringle's, on Lambton Quay, then to Winder's Building, where we were burnt out, and then after a couple of mouths at St. John's Schoolroom to these rooms (Kowlds's Buildings). These Tooms are up three flights of stairs, which does not make them ideal for tired girls from the offices and factories about here. Do you know that from 100 to 120 girls take luncheon here every day? We realise that to do any good at all a girl must be properly nourished, and we give them meals at cost. Girls who take their own lunches to work may bring them here to eat in warmth and comfort, and may, with the rest, take advantage of tho rest room. But the luncheon is only one of our activities.

"We have three things beforo us to achieve, viz.: (1) The addition of a new wing to the hostel in Brougham Street. This at present accommodates 40 . girls, and with the. now wing -wo shall lia.vo room for 140 girls. (2) Tho alteration and refitting of the Y.W.C.A. building in Boulcott Street. This building, which was loaned to the Y.M.C.A. as a hostel during tho -war, and for six months after, has been taken over by the Y.W.C.A., ami is now in the hands of the architects and builders for rearrangements, to fit tho place for the extension of tho work now carried on in Fowlds's Building. Wo are having a large luncheon room and rest lounge provided in that building. (3) The freeing over of hostels Street and Macdonald Crescent from debt, and the providing of a gymnasium for girls behind the Boulcott Street building. The sum works out something like this:—New wing at Brougham Street, £4000; alterations at Boulcott Street, £2000; mortgages, on hostels, £-1000; new gymnasium and extension works generally, £5000; total, £15,000. ■

"Those are tho actual works we have committed ourselves to, and wo mean to carry them through. Tho business men of Wellington intend to help us substantially, and already a committee has been formed, which will assist in the campaign. I should mention tlmt one of the big needs in the cily is a 'gym' for girls —girls who are at work in offices and shops; and othor sedentary avenues of employment. In many eases the exercise she- gets is not sufficient for the growing girl, and a gymnasium is needed to enablo her to indulge in physical exerciso which will improve her-health, and make .her more fit in every way. for the battle of life. Such exercise is a lino recreation and an immense relief to the monotony of some lives, and as tho physique is improved so does the capacity for mental development increase. It is the intention of the executive to build tho gymnasium at tho roar of the 'building in Boulcott •Street—a very central site. It will have stout walls and a flat roof, i)ecau6o later wo are going to build a big social hall over the 'gym,' then a lunch room over the hall, and after that a tennis court on top of the hall. These are our dreams, and I hope they will come true. The campaign ia being earnestly taken up, and a big public nieetitig, to be called by tho Mayor,' is to be held in the Town Hall <V\ Thursday evening of this week, when the schemo will be discussed and launched. We aro at work already." Our informant stated that the Y.W.C.A. sought to make no profit, but just to' make each place pay its way, It wa9 'mentioned with some show of pride that the association' lmfl never yet shown a deficit. Tho association was expanding wonderfullv (due largely to the excellent work of the secretary, Mrs. ■ Florence Birch), I)ut the field of work in Wellington was enormous.