Christmas Charities
IF Christmas came more than once a year, how good it would be for our souls ! There is nothing like giving to enlarge the . spiritual horizon—it is an expansion of consciousness; a rending of the mystic rock of self, a gushing forth of those waters that shall wash the world. Nor are the benefits of charity in the least intangible or illusory. On the lowest plane we find an immediate, personal and almost physical value in giving. Old Scrooge discovered this : all know it who give with cheerful hearts : it is an immutable law that there can be no in-take of spiritual life without an out-pouring.
As in all human activities, there is a trinity of factors that enter into the wise distribution of gifts : that is to say, the Heart, the Head, and the Mind or Spirit of man. Of things of the spirit we shall not write here—the philosophy of charity must be learned from saints and not from journalists. Our purpose is rather to make a few general (and necessarily some rather personal) observations on those charities of which we know by great and good repute.
* * * * The field is a vast one, covering as it does all those activities of love and healing which are the brightest marks of our Christian civilization. In some of the great cities of America, the experiment has been tried (and it has been found successful) of focussing all the business of raising of funds for the bene- volent institutions of the community into one week of methodically planned appeals. Voluntary hospitals, charitable societies, rescue centres and missions unite in a single, co-ordinated, expertly advertised campaign, during which citizens are canvassed for the contributions necessary for the whole year. However, it is not at all likely that in this individualistic country we shall be content thus to merge and socialize our charity even if it is proved (and it is proved in America) that a substantial reduction in campaign costs is effected thereby. Yet King Edward's Hospital Fund has taken one step in this direction. * * * First and foremost of the public bodies ministering to the spirit of benevolence is the Charity Orikinization SOciety. It is a body which, as we said some years ago in the Spectator, needs no apology for its work, but only praise for its achieve- ments. The C.O.S. is no " spectacled and shrivelled archangel who stands by public men and says Beware ! " It does not freeze the human heart, but rather opens it in wisdom and in faith. Incidentally, of course, it unmasks the fraudulent villains who trade upon the generosity of mankind, but it has also larger and nobler aims, such as the uniting of all business interests in social work, the forwarding of all good schemes for raising the standard of life in the community, the removing of causes of social distress, and the promotion of economy and efficiency, which are just as important in charitable as they are in business institutions. Finally, and perhaps more important than anything else, it seeks to main- tain a high conception of individual freedom and responsibility. At this time of year the Enquiry Department of the London C.O.S. (296 Vauxhall Bridge Road) is always besieged with enquiries as to the soundness of this or that charity : we cannot do better than commend our readers to the care of the C.O.S. The full list of its activities cannot be given in detail, but they include training committees for social science students, a medical advisory committee and affiliated societies devoted to charity organization throughout England. * * * * Near our heart and near also by reason of physical proximity (it is at the other end of the Strand) is Charing Cross Hospital, to which all casualties in this part of London come and which is now in urgent need of £70,000 to enlarge the sphere of its beneficent work. It is one of the most cheaply and efficiently administered of our hospitals and is emphatically worthy of the support of readers from far and near: * * * As regards welfare work for children, we can only mention the Royal Infant Orphanage at Wanstead, The Church of England Homes for Waifs and Strays, and the'well-known and beautiful work that Dr. Barnardo's_bomes.hrwe _been and are
still doing after 60 years of existence. This is their Diamond! Jubilee year,. and we hope the Homes will receive a generals measure of support from our readers. An average of five children a day are admitted, and no destitute child is ever refused. Over all the seven seas this mighty work is known and blessed. Sir Rowland Blades writes to us on behalf of the Alexandra Orphanage, the first of its kind founded in the City in 1758. An income of £16,000 is needed to meet the yearly expenses of training and educating the 300 children in its care. Most of this has to be raised by voluntary gifts and the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress issue a special appeal which merits our respectful attention. Then there is the London Lock Hospital, which deals with 100 women and innocent children every week, and is doing a work of local. culable benefit to the country. Its needs are urgent, and their work one which can be strongly recommended. Tao other homes to which we wish to draw our readers' attention are Reedham Orphanage on the pleasant hillside of Purley, and the National Industrial Home for Crippled Boys at Wrights Lane, Kensington. The former, under the patronage of His Majesty, is a home for 300 boys and girls. The latter is an institution to train crippled boys between 13 and 15 years of age to become self supporting citizens. Space does not permit us to do more than mention these homes for•children : our desire is to write a page about each.
• * * The National Hospital for Consumption, at Ventnor, the London Homeopathic Hospital in Bloomsbury, and the great Westminster Hospital are in need of funds to brighten Christ. mas for those they shelter : in this connexion the Westminster Hospital issues a special appeal for the installation of artificial sunlight apparatus in the Children's Ward. The cost of eaeh apparatus is £100, and anyone who would like to contribute towards this special charity is asked to write to the Treasurers, Westminster Hospital, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster. * * The work of the Royal School for the Blind, at Leatherhead, which teaches the blind, the blind-deaf; and the blind-deaf- dumb to become useful and self-reliant citizens makes an especial appeal to all of us who enjoy the full gifts of the senses.
* * *
The Society for Improving the Condition of the Working Classes, striking as it does at the root of social unrest by devoting its energies to demolishing slums and erecting good houses in their stead, may be commended, not so much as a charity as an intelligent and thoroughly practical scheme of social insurance. Would that its funds ran into millions instead of thousands of pounds.
* * *
We have hardly space to deal with Missions abroad, but the appeal of the Mission to Lepers is so dramatic and heart- rending in its quality that we cannot forbear a word ; 8,000 lepers in fifteen different countries are now aided by it az under its constant care. The new treatment for leprosy has been successful, and lepers in the early stages are recovering.
• a a a The Missions to Seamen have been working for ninety-one years, and are an essentially British charity whose claims on us are insistent. We may also mention in this connexion Dr. Grenfell's Labrador Mission. If the quality rather than the quantity of the minds turned to the service of Christ be the criterion of usefulness, then this is as great a work as there is in the world. And it is under magnificent leadership.
Finally we would say a word for the Soldiers and Sailors Help Society, that carries on amongst other activities the well-known. Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops for disabled ex-Service men.
*
The need of all these societies is urgent, and is but one- hundredth of the sum of good causes that exist in these little, sorely 'tried; long-suffering islands. What a weight of wee, what a wealth of suffering and sacrifice does this brief survey of our needs reveal ! May strong and willing hands be ready in their thousands this Christmas to scythe down the weeds of want and make of England the garden that it should be.
Previous page
