ST. MARY’S HOMES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 405, 13 July 1928, Page 16

ST. MARY’S HOMES

CHILD WELFARE WORK To allow for depreciation, a sum of £337 2s lid was included in the financial report for St. Mary’s Homes, Otaliuliu, made at the annual meeting last evening. This caused a deficit of £217 2s 3d to be shown, but it. did not signify actual loss. No grant had been received from the Government. The income from St. Mary’s Homes Association reached £591 5s Id, to which should be added an amount from a sale of work. Inmates’ fees totalled £1,364 8s lOd. Bequests and a donation of £4OO amounted to £S2S, which had, since the closing of the financial year, been transferred to the General Trust Board for investment. The Child Welfare Amendment Act of 1927 brings the infant department of St. Mary’s Homes more closely under the control of the Government. The society is of the opinion that it has a stronger claim for applying for a substantial yearly grant from the Government to aid the funds. New powers include the control of a child so long as that child is covered by the terms of the agreement; the holding of a child against the demands of unsuitable parents or guardians; and legal procedure for the collection of due fees for maintenance. The management 'had gone on steadily under the sisters of the Order of the Good Shepherd. The of the farm committee had given much attention to management. At St. Mary’s Homes, Parnell, the organising secretary for the association, Miss Alice L. Wilson, stated in her annual report that work had been well maintained. Subscriptions received from 36 branches amounted to £424 11s 9d, against £421 18s 5d last year. The difficulty of finding women willing to act as local secretaries was a pressing problem. The resignation of Mrs. Blackwell, of Paparoa, who is leaving that district, had been accepted. Mrs. Blackwell had acted as secretary since the work was started by the late Mrs. Calder in 1910.