YALLOURN AUXILIARY RVIB - ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS
The following newspaper article was published in the ‘Morwell Advertiser’ on August 23rd in 1934; and reports on the AGM of the Yallourn Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.
The listed names of the collectors for Yallourn Auxiliary of the RVIB, again highlight the degree of involvement of local people in the various organizations and clubs of the town.
The footnotes to the story endeavour to give some background to the establishment of the Yallourn auxiliary of the RVIB. My apologies for any spelling errors, of family names as mentioned in the article, when transcribing from the original document - e.g. A.S Padfield may be Hatfield. (Roger)
August 23rd 1934 ‘MORWELL ADVERTISER’ PAGE 9
Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind
YALLOURN LADIES AUXILIARY
The Annual Meeting of the Yallourn Auxiliary for the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind was held on Monday, August 13th, in St. John's Vestry and last year's officers were re-elected, namely:
• President: Mrs E. Dann.
• Secretary: Mrs R. J. McKay.
• Treasurer: Mrs W. B. Nelson.
The collections for this financial year of the Auxiliary were not as good as last year, the total amount of £54/10/3 being collected. An amount of £60 was forwarded to the Institute this being possible owing to the fact that there was a small amount in hand brought forward from last year's collections.
The Auxiliary wish to thank all who so kindly gave in the past year and hope that when the collectors make their half yearly round within the next few weeks, they will meet with a generous response.
The collectors for the coming year will be the same as in the previous years: Mesdames J. M. Andrew, P. Armstrong, W. F. Connolly, E. Dann, E. Erikson, S. Fullard, G. Elliott, T. Hill, P. Harry, H. Heinecke, R. A. Hunt, W. Jamieson, J. Lucas, R. J. McKay, F. B. Meens, D. H. Milner, H. Parkinson, K. Patterson, A. S. Padfield, W. B. Nelson, H. Lynch, Miss P. Grant and Mr J. Lucas.
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FOOTNOTES
1. The origins of the Royal Institute for the Blind can be traced back nearly 150 years ago when the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind was established. The School for the Blind changed its name to the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind in 1868.
2. The Yallourn Auxiliary of the RVIB was formed sometime in the early 1930’s; and the organization appears to have been first mentioned in the local newspapers in 1933.
3. The names listed in the above article include Mrs James Moore Andrew and Mrs E. Dann. Both women were actively involved in various organizations within the town; and Mrs P. Armstrong, whose name is given among the designated collectors, was the Secretary of the Yallourn Auxiliary of the RVIB for two decades.
4. Mrs Armstrong seems to have been the driving force behind the RVIB Auxiliary and a truly remarkable resident of Yallourn…
“ Of more genteel spirit , perhaps, was Jane Armstrong, wife of Percy who went to the town in 1924 and remained till the 1970’s. She was staunch worker for the Methodist Church and the Auxiliary for the blind of which she was secretary for 20 years.” ‘Yallourn Was’ Page: 175.
It is known that Mrs Armstrong was also the President of the Food for Britain Ladies’ Committee that existed in Yallourn for some years.
5. £ 54/10/3 (pounds/shillings /pence) in 1934 would be approx. equivalent to $5,180( dollars) today. Considering that there were some 3100 residents in Yallourn ( 1935 Census); and that the money was collected during the harsh years of the Great Depression, it appears that the Yallourn Auxiliary, of the RVIB, was very active and most dedicated in fund raising for the blind.
6. In 2004, the RVIB, Royal Blind Society, Vision Australia Foundation and the National Information Library Service merged to form Vision Australia.
7. In later years, other organisations such as ‘Hear a Book’ and the ‘Seeing Eye Dogs of Australia’ also became part of Vision Australia.
8. Since earlier times, much has changed to assist the lives of blind and visually impaired people throughout Australia; and the technological innovations that have transpired would have stunned the willing volunteers of the Yallourn Auxiliary at that AGM in 1934.
This story is part of an on-going project regarding the history of Yallourn. The article was researched and written by Roger Spaull and presented and posted by Julie George for the Virtual Yallourn website in May 2018.
The above story from the ‘Morwell Advertiser’ newspaper has been faithfully reproduced. The only amendments to the original copy are the font style, font size and spacing, so as to enhance the article for purposes of posting on the Virtual Yallourn website.
RVID
My Grandmother Daisy Ebsworth was Member /