Rushden Echo and Argus, 14th January, 1944, transcribed by Gill Hollis
Rushden To Help War Prisoners - Plan Also Covers Health Centre and Legion
“Rushden February Campaign” is the simple title chosen for the effort now taking shape in the hands of a town committee. It will help the Red Cross and St. John Prisoners of War Fund to the extent of 50 per cent. of the proceeds, and it will provide for Rushden a much-needed health treatment clinic. A third excellent object is to help the Rushden British Legion Benevolent Fund.
The arrangements were pushed forward at a meeting in the Council Chamber, when Coun. A. F. Weale, J.P. (chairman of the Urban Council), presided, supported by the three secretaries, Coun. W. E. Capon, Mr. T. L. Watts, LL.B., and Mr. B. W. Williams.
Reports on the possibility of developing the Rushden Cottage Hospital by installing new apparatus and securing expert supervision were of special interest.
Coun. Capon said that representatives of the campaign committee and other interested parties had met four of the local doctors, who all agreed as to the necessity of some provision being made in Rushden which would obviate the need for many people to go to Northampton Hospital for minor treatments. Dr. Greenfield and Coun. T. W. Cox then consulted the authorities at Northampton Hospital, and so far as the professional side was concerned no difficulty was anticipated. A complete list of apparatus required had been compiled, and the cost was estimated at £253. The next step would be to consult with the Cottage Hospital authorities, whose premises would be quite suitable.
Quite Practical
Coun. Cox said these proposals would meet the needs of electrical treatment for various types of invalids, and there was no doubt that the apparatus could be accommodated at the Cottage Hospital.
The Chairman said the meeting with the doctors was very successful, and they agreed it was a practical proposition.
It was agreed to run the town campaign intensively throughout February and keep the fund open until March 15th. Detailed arrangements were then made on the lines of the successful Aid to Russia and Aid to China campaigns of 1942 and 1943. It is hoped to raise large sums by means of four weekly factory collections, appeals to manufacturers and tradesmen, private appeals, a house-to-house and cinema collection, a flag day and, if possible, a concert.
A general invitation was thrown out for supporting efforts, several of which, it was learned are already being planned.
Coun. E. A. Sugars took the opportunity to announce that Rushden had raised £4,939 for the Red Cross through the Penny-a-Week Fund (up to the end of November) and £910 through the town fund which was opened early in the war and still remained open. In addition, he said, many Red Cross gifts had been sent direct to headquarters, but no record of these was available locally. The grand total, he had no doubt, would be comparable with that of any town in proportion to the population.
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