C.A.B. ENQUIRIES OF A DIFFERENT KIND

Excerpt from 'THE CLOCK OF TIME' by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp 176-178)

"Family problems, including those of aborigines, needed considerable tact and took up much of our time.  One very nice aboriginal girl name Kathie came to see us in great distress.  She was a working girl, educated and nicely dressed.  When working she boarded her young baby son with two white women in South Perth who were running a type of school called, I believe, "Essanda" or something similar.  They wanted to adopt the boy but she had refused permission for them to do so.

When Kathy went along to see her child she found that the two women had moved and taken the boy with them.  She knew that they had spoken of going overseas and she asked us to prevent them from taking her son.  We immediately took up the matter with the police and Child Welfare Department, but neither would take action.  I have often wondered whether their attitude would have been different if it had been a white child that was missing.  We were told they could not afford to send police flying around Australia to trace the missing people and, in any case, they would be unable to take the child out of the country on their passports.  The papers also took up the matter but nothing was done and the child was taken out of Australia.

*Some time later, about five years I believe, the boy was traced in Europe and we understand he was brought home.  At the time of the disappearance rumours were circulating that the women concerned were communists. and that people of that political persuasion were hoping to send a number of young aboriginal people to communist countries to be indoctrinated, and then brought back to Australia to influence their own people.  (I can remember mum being very distressed about this missing boy and I know she did everything in her power to help at the time).

There was a case of incest whether a mother gave evidence against her husband who had violated her daughters and he was sent to prison.  As time went by, and there was a possibility of him being released on parole, the wife was terrified that he would search them out an that murder would be committed.  Arrangements were made for a change of domicile and a change of name for all of them, and we hoped this would prove sufficient protection to allow them to live an entirely new life.

Wives of husband who had been in gaol and had become addicted to homosexual practices, came to us in tears because their husbands no longer desired normal sexual relations.  This was a case for the Marriage Guidance Bureau and we hoped some solution was possible.

Men and women came to us seeking help with V.D. and we drew attention to the need for further publicity.  We felt all young people should know the "dos' and donts" of sex and where to obtain help if required.

Dozens of problems concerned with door-to-door salesmen came our way, and w learned how unscrupulous many of the travellers were.  One of these cases was concerned with an encyclopaedia.  The salesman knocked at the door and there was no answer.  He noticed that there was a woman in bed on the verandah and went over to try to make a sale.  She told him she was too ill to be bothered.  He asked her to sign her name on a paper he had and he would then come back and see the husband.  She could just manage to sign her name and did so.  He filled in the rest of the form and sent along the encyclopaedia having asked her to sign that she would purchase same, without her knowledge.  When the books arrived the husband went to the firm and was told that his wife had bought them, and her signature was produced.  The husband refused to accept the books and returned them, but the firm charged him for them.

 Poor man!  He came to us in great distress as his wife was dying of cancer and neither of them could read or write except just to sign their names.  I got in touch with the firm and threatened to have the case published in the daily paper if the books were not accepted back and an apology made to the man and his wife.   Needless to say we were assured that it was an error on the part of their office and nothing more was heard about it.

As expected, the bureau indicated very clearly a number of gaps in our laws and services.  One of the most urgent was the need for an emergency housekeeper service, the facilities at Wanslea being insufficient and, in many cases, unsuitable.

Working mothers asked where they could send their children during school holidays.  It was sometimes possible for them to obtain their own holidays at the same time as their children once a year but, unless they had family or friends to help there were long periods when their children were at risk if left to their own devices.

Details of these needs were passed back to me as Honorary Secretary of the Council of Social Services.

While at the C.A.B. I was made a Justice of the Peace."

*I knew there had been newspaper articles re the missing aboriginal boy and after much searching on "Trove" I have actually found the newspaper report concerning this young lad and his return to his mother.  The article appeared in "The Canberra Times" on Tuesday, 8th September, 1970 and reads as follows:  

"Adbucted boy returned to Mother" and shows a picture of Mrs Trimmer and her son Barry at Perth Airport.  

PERTH, Monday....Tears streamed down the cheeks of Mrs Kathy Trimmer as she clung to the son she had not seen for six years, when they were reunited at Perth airport yesterday.

It was a highly emotional affair as the slim, part aboriginal boy, folded himself in his mother's arms, bewildered and uncertain, while his young brother Ivan held his hand.    The reunion brought to an end one of the strangest abductions in Australia's history, a tug-of-war between Mrs Rene Heisler, the woman who wanted to have Barry educated behind the Iron Curtain and a part-aboriginal mother who wanted her son raised in his proper home.

Barry, an eight-year-old was taken from a Perth children's home without his mother's permission six years ago, and later was taken to East Germany.

Barry's name is McKenzie because that was his mother's maiden name as he was born before she had married.  She married a white man named Trimmer.

Barry's companion during the flight, Miss May Taylor, said at Perth Airport "He referred to Mrs Heisler as his 'other mother'.  He told me that he and Mrs Heisler had crossed over to West Berlin by car about a month ago and that they had been living in a suburb called Karl Marx"

Barry walked off the aircraft with officials from the Department of External Affairs and holding Miss Miller's hand.

Miss Miller told a reporter that through the flight from Melbourne, Barry had been in high spirits and was looking forward to meeting his "real mummy" and brothers.   "He speaks a little English" said Miss Miller. "but every now and again words fail him and he breaks into German".

I am so pleased to have been able to give you the happy ending to this remarkable story and if you should want to read more about it you can find it on "Trove" under the date shown above and the heading "Adbucted boy returned to Mother" in the Canberra Times.

A PRETTY AZALEA

I took this snap this afternoon of a potplant that lives on our front patio.  Why did I do that you ask.  Mainly because it never fails to amaze me, at its second flowering each season, just how many different colours it shows on the one bush.

Incidentally, a lady (one of those people who you feel thinks they know everything) told me exactly fourteen years ago (in April 2001) that this azalea was dying and we'd be lucky if it lasted out the season.    Personally, I think for a plant that was given the death sentence so long ago, it is doing rather well.

THE C.A.B. GROWS

Mum has set up a small office of the newly established Citizen's Advice Bureau in Boans store but larger accommodation is urgently needed.

Excerpt from 'THE CLOCK OF TIME' by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp170-172)

"Mr J. J. Devereux, Under Secretary for Health, who kept a fatherly eye on our activities, became aware of our need for larger premises and, by some unknown means, we found ourselves in a very convenient office in Murray Street, set up with a counter, two rooms for interviewing and a space for the secretary, which housed us very comfortably for several years.

Toilets were our greatest problems!  At Blues (Boans) we had to go out of the building and up manay stairs next door, while in Murray Street we had to cross the road and use the toilets at the Department of Health, to everybody's amusement.  This was difficult at times when we had a client with a child who needed to use the toilet urgently.

The task of obtaining helpers, training them, keeping records, financing, advertising and developing the Council of Social Service and C.A.B. was my responsibility.  Eventually C.A.B. was fortunate in obtaining annual grants from both the State Government and Lotteries Commission, added to which we were permitted to hold an annual street appeal.

Mr R. Hewitt and Mr Hayward of A.M.A. were Hon. Treasurers during the early years and were most efficient and helpful.

C.A.B. is a general information service as well as a welfare bureau.  We had one regular client - a young newly married woman - who first rang to know how to make cushions and, having been given the necessary instructions and safely carried out the task, treated us as an "Enquire Within Upon Everything".

We assisted with an colossal amount of data.  Enquiries received came from far an wide on fantastic subjects; we even received enquiries from the W.A. University.  We found it necessary to have books on mathematics, etiquette, wedding procedure and cookery, etc., as well as pamphlets on the laws covering door to door sales, dividing fences, noise abatement, the Dog Act etc.

During the time I ran the C.A.B. I had to find a body that had disappeared from hospital (claimed by the University for research according to the Will) but without informing the wife who was separated from her husband, and to assist a young man to obtain permission for the burial of a woman whose only relative was in another State.

Many closely guarded family secrets became known to us and the confidential nature of the work was impressed upon everybody.

A very distressed young woman came in one day to seek our advice and help.  She was to be married in a few weeks; wedding invitations had gone out and the couple were going abroad for their honeymoon.  She had to obtain a passport and for that, needed her birth certificate.  He mother became most distressed when she was asked for the certificate, and it transpired that the name by which she and her mother were known was that of her father to whom her mother was not married.  It had been a war romance and he was already married, but he had apparently maintained both her mother and herself all their lives.

 Our Honorary Legal Adviser suggested that she change he name to that by which she was known, and send her new certificate for the passport.  There was very little time for this procedure, but we explained the urgency to the departments concerned and the passport arrived just two days before the wedding.

The bride to be was not very gracious. and seemed to resent the fact that we asked her to cover the cost of postage, telegrams etc., paid out by us, to which she had agreed to in the beginning.  200 people had been invited to the wedding reception, so we felt sure they could afford our few costs, and we were glad to have been able to help the mother.

I received 'phone calls at home at any hours of the day or night and had to obtain permission to have a silent telephone number.

One year, on the Thursday before Good Friday, we received a frantic call from a woman who unexpectedly, had to feed a large number of firemen during Easter.  The person who was to have done this had been taken to hospital, and our caller had been asked to step into the breach.

We had a book which gave us quantities and recipes for various numbers of people, and our helpers gathered together and gave our client lists of suitable food, quantities to be supplied for each meal, and recipes including sweets.  Apple and rhubarb tarts had been thought ideal for men and then somebody remembered that, if she was entertaining them all in her home, she might need a larger supply of towels, toilet rolls, etc. than for a small family.  It was a hectic afternoon and, in the end, our helpers had to rush to catch shops in order to obtain their own food for the weekend.

We had a 'phone call from the woman after the holiday telling us everything had worked out well, and thanking us for our help.  It was particularly rewarding to receive appreciation for the extra service in the emergency.

I feel that is a good place to stop.  More anecdotes from the CAB in future episodes.

COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

As you read about all the organisations in which my mother was involved you will begin to realise why 'the family' do not get much mention in this section of her book.  Yes, we did see mum but only when she had time to spare.   She had done so much for me until I was 21 (and afterwards too) that I felt no resentment of her spending time helping others.  She had found her true forte in life and went headlong into that wonderful new world.

Excerpt from "THE CLOCK OF TIME" by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp 180-182)

A.C.R.O.D.

Dr George Bedbrook (now Sit George Bedbrook) invited me to join his Committee for the Rehabilitation of Disabled, which had its headquarters at Shenton Park, and I was very happy to do so, but accepted as the Honorary Secretary of the Council of Social Service.

Dr McKellar-Hall, who was in partnership with Dr Bedbrook, had been to America and brought back with him a booklet issued in Boston, Mass., for the benefit of handicapped people.  This "Guide to Boston" impressed ACROD, and I was asked to assist in producing a "Guide to Perth for the Handicapped" on similar lines.

Mr Frank Dargan, in charge of occupational therapy at Shenton Park Paraplegic Centre, and Mr Dennis Dorricott, who had been a victim of polio and was still somewhat handicapped, came to our headquarters in Murray Street after business hours, and we slowly and painstakingly drew up a rough blank of the booklet showing the items we wished to include.

Once again the voluntary workers of the C.A.B. went out of their way to note essential buildings. banks, etc., inaccessible through steps, lack of rails and ramps.  We received help from many interested people and eventually proudly printed our first guide.  Through working on the guide w found many adjustments necessary to make life easier and more convenient for the handicapped.

While a member of ACROD I also helped to produce the second edition of the "Guide to Perth for the Handicapped:, and took part in a film called 'BARRIERS", the name of which is self explanatory  It has been shown and acclaimed very widely in Australia and overseas, with considerable benefit to the crippled and the aged.

The powers that be refused to allow actually handicapped people take any part in the film and, having been handicapped and graduated to a walking stick, I was recruited to use elbow crutches and carry a bag to go shopping.  I had to enter a large grocery store with self-opening doors, to show their advantage, and proceed into the self-service departments and select my goods,  I chose items in tins rather than bottles as there was a chance I may drop some of them.   The photographers delighted when I did drop some of them and was quite unable to pick them up.  When I had completed shopping I had to go through the checkout, another difficult ting with elbow crutches and trying to carry a shopping bag.  I was then asked to go up a ramp alongside another building and found it reasonably easy, showing the difference between a ramp and steps.

Mr Frank Dargan used a self-propelled invalid chair to point out the limitations of people so handicapped.

Over the years our ACROD branch battled to obtain public telephones suitable for the use of the handicapped; banks and chemist shops were persuaded to include drive-in facilities where possible; ramps and rails have been included in public buildings; and in many spots there are sloping curbs for the use of people in wheelchairs, mothers with prams, the aged and infirm.

Toilets also have been a problem in hotels, motels and public buildings in the city an country.  At one time there was no public toilet in Perth which could be used by a person in a wheelchair.  The position has improved but there are still many essential facilities lacking.

Plaques are now presented to the owners of buildings complying with ACROD requirements and they are affixed to the walls near the entrance to the premises.

I retired from ACROD in 1974 and was presented with a beautiful book entitled "Swan River Landscapes". (That book resides in my own bookcase now).   In addition they kindly made me a stand for my recliner chair which raised it about 10" and made it more convenient for me.  (Mum doesn't explain why this was necessary but later on you will learn the reason for her own disabilities).

ACROD has continued to make progress.  A third edition of the "Guide to Perth for the Handicapped" has now been issued.  Mr Frank Dargan has just retired after 35 years at Shenton Park and Mr Dennis Dorricott is in charge o a very flourishing centre for quadriplegics also at Shenton Park, and was recently decorated with the M.B.E.

(16.4.15......ACROD has progressed much further since the 1980s.  For several years I have had an ACROD parking permit which allows us to park in designated ACROD parking bays.  Unfortunately there are usually far too few of these bays at most shopping centres but they are very useful for people who can't walk very far, such as myself.   If they are in use Phil will drop me as close as possible to the entrance of where we are going and then go and park the car.  Then when we leave he fetches the car to the entrance to pick me up.) 

SOCIAL WELFARE WORK CONTINUES WITH MORE HARD WORK

Mum had returned to the world of social welfare and here she is given a rather large task to perform and, as usual, she makes a very good job of it.

Excerpt from 'THE CLOCK OF TIME' by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp 166-170)

"Establishment of the Citizens Advice Bureau

Professor Saint asked me to accept the responsibility for establishing this service on a full time basis.  I explained that I was earning my living and could not accept the position without a salary.  C.O.S.S. agreed that I should receive a salary similar to that then being paid to me by A.P.T. Shipping as Confidential Secretary to the Managing Director and I therefore gave notice."  (see previous story about APT Shipping).

"The first thing I had to do was look for suitable premises at ground level to give easy access to the aged, handicapped, and mothers with children, the location having to be as near as possible to the centre of the city.

To pay rent for such an office was beyond the Council, and we therefore pinned our hopes on being permitted to use the information bureau at the Perth Town Hall, Hay Street entrance, which had been set up for the Commonwealth Games and would be ideal for the purpose.  Unfortunately Perth City Council was not in favour.

After searching hopefully around the city we again approached Mr Frank Boan.  He had been good enough to find me space for the original office of the Slow Learning Children's Group and, later, allowed the pilot scheme for the League of Home Help to use the same office.

Our request this time was for space on the ground floor from which to launch the C.A.B.  We realised we were asking a great deal of a retail store to be given ground floor space but, once again, this very fine man came to our aid and built us a small office in the Wellington Street end of Boans building, known as "Blues".  The whole office was only 11 feet long and 4 feet wide, the last 4 feet being partitioned off to permit a client to be interviewed in privacy.

The furniture had to be small and most of it came from my home, including my new Oliver typewriter, which I wore out in the Council's service.  We had our own telephone line installed, and office hours had to be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the same as Boans' office employees, which prevented any overtime.

We had applied for, and received permission to hold a street appeal, and colleagues from the Women's Service Guild and Council of Social Services gave wholehearted support to the running of it.  We were relying on the proceeds from the collection to pay my salary and the office expenses.  In particular I would like to mention Mrs Edna Maloney, Mrs Marge Schonell (I went to school with her daughter Judith at Perth College) and Mrs Glad Christie during the years I was the Director of the C.A.B.  They never failed me.

I was, of course, still Honorary Secretary of the Council of Social Service and carried out that work in my own time. It was thought I might be able to sandwich the work of C.O.S.S. in the office hours of the C.A.B., but this was not the case as I was kept very busy every day with the work of the Bureau.  Prior to opening the office I commenced a card index with cross references of every service and facilities about which people might enquire.

The first day was expected to be rather slack, but Boans' employees were intrigued by the Bureau and came in with their own personal questions.

My first telephone client wanted information regarding certificates for a burial, and the second concerned the rules of lay-by.  I immediately began a card system and recorded the correct information in alphabetical order for future reference.  Over the years our card index was worth its weight in gold.

We were in communication with the C.A.B. in England and received from that body the fullest information concerning the service, together with supplies of the OWL posters. They were full of encouragement to spur us on, and even told us of a short film on the C.A.B., which was obtainable from the British High Commissioner's office, and showed a United Kingdom Bureau in actual operation.

At about that time Mr F.S.Cross sent Mrs Muriel Haning to me and suggested I might find her useful as a shorthand typist, although she was out of practice.  This was one of the most pleasant things that could have happened to me as, although she had many home problems, Muriel gave me wonderful loyalty as well as excellent help and support as my secretary for many years.  There were times. when the pressure was on and we were in other premises that she worked with me until very late at night after everybody else had gone home.  Owing to our limited space at Boans there was no room for more than one, or at most two people. to wait in the office for attention, and there was often an overflow into Boan's shop."

O.K. now the C.A.B. has been set up and is running well.  Bigger premises are much needed and in the next episode we find a move is imminent. 

Muriel Haning was a wonderful lady.  She adored my mother and would have done anything for her.   Muriel had her own problems at home but she was always so cheerful whenever I had occasion to meet her.

BACK TO THE SOCIAL SERVICE WORLD

Mum had two really good secretarial positions for about 10 years in all and realising she was perhaps becoming too old for the commercial world she turned her thoughts to social welfare again.

Excerpt from 'THE CLOCK OF TIME' by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp 164-166)

"The Council of Social Services

At about this time we had a visit from a Mr George Haynes of the Council of Social Services in the U.K., and, at his request, the Guilds called a public meeting with Mrs S. Manners, Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr Haynes explained the benefits of such a Council, the objects of which were co-operation, prevention of overlapping, and filling the gaps.

The meeting was well attended, the audience interested, but it was obvious that time and effort would be necessary to educate Western Australian agencies to accept the need for such an organisation here.

Following the public meeting Mr Haynes contacted Dr Colin Anderson and a number of social workers, who agreed to seek support for the project.  I was asked to join a small committee formed for the purpose, and the five of us in all tried to gather support from church groups, welfare agencies and individuals to bring together similar welfare bodies to prevent overlapping and fill gaps in service.

It took many meetings, months of effort and considerable publicity before it was possible to call a formal meeting in the Perth City Council Chambers in Murray Street, with the Lord Mayor in the Chair, and a very representative gathering of welfare bodies and individuals present, to place before the meeting the need for the formation of a Council of Social Service in W.A.  It was resolved that a Council be formed and an ad hoc committee was elected, which included the five founders.  Mr Harry Greig became Chairman of the committee and, failing any other offers, I agreed to become Honorary Secretary for a limited period.

After a short time the ad hoc committee had carried out the necessary preliminary work and then called a meeting to launch the Council and appoint its officers.

I gladly retired from the position of Hon. Secretary but my resignation was not accepted by Mr Greig, and I was asked by the newly elected President, Mr H. T. Stitfold, to withdraw my resignation as nobody else would accept the position.  Reluctantly I agreed and, in the end, I was Hon. Secretary of the Council for its first twelve years until it was possible to pay a part-time secretary.

Mr Stitfold retired from the Presidency after the first year and his place was taken by *Professor Eric Saint, B.Sc.M.D. (Dunelm), LLD (Hon. Qld) FRACP FRCP FACMA; a wonderful man with whom I enjoyed working for many years until he left Western Australia to become Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland.  In 1979 we were all delighted when he returned to Western Australia.  (This is a photo I have of mum taken in later years.  The gentleman in the middle of the 3 men is Professor Eric Saint. It was the Professor that gave the eulogy at mum's funeral service in January, 1985.  I can't say for sure who the other two gentleman are, although I feel I recognise their faces, and mum did not write any names on the back of the photo.  If I can find my copy of the eulogy I may publish it on here one day.):

 Dr Colin Anderson, another great man, was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council for man years,

As Hon. Secretary of the Council in W.A, I was elected to the position of Executive Officer of the National Council of Social Service, and invited to attend their annual meetings in August each year in Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra.  Funds were difficult.  Other States paid their Executive Officers and THEY RECEIVED A GRANT FOR TRAVELLING.

Eventually the Commonwealth Government made a grant to the Australian Council, and each State received a moderate amount for travelling.

In order to make my allowance stretch I travelled by express bus and, as we touched down in each State, I gathered as much as data as possible regarding its social welfare.  This enabled me to keep right up to date with the latest developments.

Mr F.S. Cross was an officer of the W.A. Council and, in his business capacity as Executive Director of the Employers' Federation, he frequently made trips to the Eastern States.  When these coincided with meetings of the Australian Council he attended on our behalf.

Soon after the W.A. Council of Social Service was formed we received suggestions from member bodies that there was a need for a Citizens Advice Bureau or a Family Welfare Bureau here, and two of our social workers, Miss Faith Pitman and Miss Marjorie Hill, belonging to our Executive Committee were asked to consult our member bodies and survey the need in order to ascertain which would be of the greatest service.

The majority favoured a Citizens Advice Bureau, and it was therefore decided that the Council would investigate the possibility of setting up such a bureau on the lines of those operating so well in the United Kingdom.

*In the 1940s, as a young doctor working for the Department of Health in Perth, the then Dr Eric Saint reported repeatedly that he considered asbestos to be a dangerous substance.  He had been stationed for a time at Wittenoom Gorge.  Unfortunately money I am guessing spoke more loudly than common sense and Dr Saint's fear of asbestos went unheeded.  He was an expert witness at the trial, Barrow and Heys v. CSR Ltd 1988, in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.  His letters and warnings forty years previously about the dangers of asbestos were crucial to Justice Rowland's judgement against CSR.  Professor Saint died of coronary artery disease at Nedlands in 1989 at the age of 70.   He was a truly wonderful man.

MORE STORIES FROM THE C.A.B.

Excerpt from 'THE CLOCK OF TIME' by Gertrude Ruston.  (pp 172-174)

"We had our amusing moment.  An elderly woman came in one day and was interviewed by Mrs Chadwick, one of our voluntary helpers.  She complained that the government had stopped her pension and told he she had too much money.  We made enquiries on her behalf and were told she had paid a large amount of money into her bank account.  The next time she came in we asked her where this extra money had come from.  She said that was "Poppa's money" not hers.  It appeared that her husband had died recently and she had found he had a cache under the floor covering, but she maintained that it was not her money and she couldn't use it.  She was quite indignant because Social Services (now known as Centrelink) would not pay her any further pension until, as she put it, "she had eaten the money".  She often came in to see us and, if Mrs Chadwick was there, did her best to kiss her fondly if she could get near enough.

Elderly people frequently become very confused regarding finance.  We had a number of aged people come in because they had lost their purses or fares home, and we had to try to help them although we had no funds and it was a strict rule that we must not dip into our own pockets.

One of these people, we shall call her 'Mrs Brown', was without her fare home as she had lost lost her purse and we asked her how much she had lost.  She said a nice man at one of the banks gave her £1 (one pound) when she asked him and had done so that morning.  It took a long time to find out which bank and where, but eventually we ran it to earth.  It appears that 'Mrs Brown' regularly lost her money and her bank book. so they kept the book in the bank and gave her a little money at a time.  She still had £800 in the bank at that time, but they thought somebody should be looking after her and her bank account."  (I wonder if these days the big banks would bother looking after an old lady like that.  I somehow doubt it).

"We arranged for her to get home safely and asked Silver Chain to visit her and see if they could assist in some way.  Two of the Silver Chain sisters went t see her together and, with her help, found no less than twenty five lots of money and handbags in various places in her home.  Arrangements were made for her to be cared for in the future as she had nephew who was a lawyer.  When we told her she had money in the bank she said"Oh no!  That must be another 'Mrs Brown'".

Once more office accommodation proved inadequate and we applied for an obtained the ground floor offices on the corner of Murray and Pier Streets, formerly part of the old Government Print building which, by the way, was built by the convicts. as shown by the broad arrow on the doorstep.

The offices were quite large and included a properly furnished Board Room which provided ideal for our business meetings.

The actual distance we had to move from the old office to the new was very short indeed. as they were at either end of the same building.  The government helped with the movement of the large furniture.  For the smaller articles we obtained two wheelbarrows and Mrs Haning and I made numerous trips trundling everything possible from one office to another with the minimum of packing, to the amazement and amusement of the general public and Mr Jim Devereux, Under Secretary for Health, who gave us considerable assistance from time to time as far as his duties permitted.

C.A.B. now had twelve voluntary workers on roster, cubicles for interviewing, telephone extensions, and employed a junior receptionist/telephonist/typist.  We had also a very efficient data system.

Before we left the first office in Murray Street I was asked to write an article on the C.A.B. to be presented at the Annual Conference of the Councils of Social Service.  This was the Fourth National Conference and was held in Melbourne from 16th to 20th May, 1966.  We were also asked for a photograph of C.A.B. in operation for inclusion in the annual report.  A professional photograph was taken and I paid for a framed enlargement to be hung in the office as part of our history.  It shows me on the telephone at the enquiry desk, Mrs Haning walking out of one of the rooms with papers in her hand and Mrs Chadwick interviewing in the background.  (I actually have a copy of that very photograph and the lady Mrs Chadwick was supposedly interviewing was actually another volunteer, Mrs Glad Christie whom I have previously mentioned):

This historical record was later given back to me as a subsequent Director apparently objected to it hanging in the office, and it is now hanging in my home unit.  (I suspect that I know who that subsequent director was.  She took over from mum (the reason for that will come to light in a later post) and I always felt she was somewhat jealous of mum's excellent record in establishing and maintaining the CAB for so many years and also mum's continuing popularity.)

The article on the CAB was duly presented by me at the Melbourne Conference and printed in a book "Community Service" by Professon R.J. Lawrence, of which I have a copy,  Other State delegates were definitely very interested."

More CAB stories to come which I hope you will find as interesting as I have and still do.