THE SURREY REFUGEES
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
SIR,—Last December, Janus, in " A Spectator's Notebook," made several references to the needs of the Sudeten refugees in Surrey, mentioning particularly the large settlement in Albury, near Guildford. I should like to acknowledge, with immense gratitude, the splendid response of Spectator readers to Janus' plea on behalf of these stout-hearted democrats who were driven from their country at the conclusion of the Munich agreement.
For five months Albury has sheltered a large number of these penniless, homeless people. There are about a hundred Sudeten men, women and children in this village at the present time. Without the invaluable support given to the Albury Sudeten Refugees Fund by 25o readers of The Spectator, together with the generous contributions from those living in this neighbourhood, it would have been quite im- possible to sustain the refugees' work in this settlement for so long. The money has been required to supplement the • board and lodging maintenance grant provided by the British Committee for Refugees from Czecho-Slovakia, and to meet the many incidental expenses incurred by a large community, the members of which have no funds at all apart from the 2s. 6d. a week each allowed from the Central Funds for pocket money. In the last three months the sum of £19 has been
spent on boot and shoe repairs, and £21 in the provision of text-books, &c., for the teaching of English. These are only two of the many expenses which have to be met. And there are accounts for dentistry, opticians, chemists, transport and needlework material to be settled.
In Albury the refugees are quartered in two large guest houses under private management. The proprietors have not spared themselves in their efforts to make their guests as comfortable as their somewhat crowded establishments permit. The most difficult problem is the question of daily occupation. Under the Home Office Regulations, no paid work which might interfere with local employment is sanctioned. For highly industrious men, many of whom have held re- sponsible professional and industrial positions, the complete aimlessness of their existence is an intolerable strain. In Albury, as in most other refugee settlements, we have con- centrated in the teaching of English. Under a staff of voluntary teachers, whose service is beyond all praise, the refugees have been given two hours' instruction in English daily. The men have been granted permission to do a certain amount of manual work in the grounds of the guest houses. Improvements to the gardens and the buildings have been carried out, and the men are thus getting a little daily occupa- tion and physical exercises.
The younger women and elder girls, under the Home Office sanction, have been placed in domestic service.
The elder married women, who are unfit for domestic ser- vice, have been taught English cookery, housekeeping and dressmaking in a domestic science school, under a trained in- structress. This is held each week in the village hall. The girls of school age attend the village school. Eight boys, from ten to sixteen years of age, are being educated in a German- English boarding-school which has been started here. The boys are housed in a cottage adjoining one of the guest houses, and are under the charge of a retired English pre- paratory school head master, assisted voluntarily by two Sudeten school masters, who are resident in this settlement. The boys play football with the village school ; have been enrolled as Boy Scouts and attached to a Guildford Patrol ; they do their gym. and physical training under a Sudeten P.T. instructor ; have their gardens and their carpenter's shop, where they have turned out simple furniture for their school. Lectures in German on English life and customs have been given fortnightly by a skilled lecturer on the staff of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Sons.
In emphasising our gratitude to the generous donors who have responded to Janus' appeal for financial support, we are not overlooking the kindness of the many scores of readers of The Spectator, who have sent us gifts of clothing and books and other necessities. A generous Albury neigh- bour lent an empty stable cottage for use as a clothing depot and library. Alas! this week we have given away the last remaining garment in the depot. More than 6,000 articles of clothing have been distributed to this and other Sudeten settlements, and we have been sent over Soo German and English books.
The need for clothing, both for men and women, is still very pressing. A new centre for a clothing depot in aid of the Albury Refugees, and others in private hospitality in the Guildford area, is being opened. Clothes would be grate- fully received, and all parcels should be addressed to the Secretary, the Mayor of Guildford's Fund for German Refugees, 204 High Street, Guildford.
The demands on our funds are incessant. It seems likely that we may have to carry on this work for some time longer, though emigration, fortunately, has now just begun. But I am confident that the Albury Refugee work in keneral, and the Albury Sudeten boys' school in particular, will not be hampered for lack of money. I should indeed be grateful for contributions towards the Sudeten Refugee Fund (Albury) to be sent to me at Albury Rectory, near Guildford. Every pound or shilling received helps to ease the burden of these brave and uncomplaining people, whose gratitude for the little that has been done for them is at times quite over- whelming.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, Albury Rectory, near Guildford.
PHILIP GRAY.
[Janus writes : " Having been shown this letter before publication, I must in bare justice add that it would have
been impossible for the Albury settlements to have been carried on as smoothly, efficiently and cheerfully as they have been but for the fact that they were planted (on quite other grounds) in a parish whose rector happens to combine as unusual gift for organisation with an unusual readiness to turn his hand to a work that needs doing, and add it, regardless of the strain on himself, to his normal work. He abundantly deserves any support Spectator readers can give."]
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