INVALID CHILDREN'S AID [Main Title]

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  • Title: INVALID CHILDREN'S AID [Main Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 5163
  • Other titles: INVALID CHILDREN'S AID ASSOCIATION [Allocated Title] AMATEUR FILM BY ROSIE NEWMAN [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur black and white film shot and edited by Rosie Newman dealing with the charitable work of the Invalid Children's Aid Association (ICAA) in the convalescent treatment of children suffering from heart disease, shown to raise funds for the charity.
  • Description: The first part of the film deals with the work of The Children's Heart Hospital, West Wickham, Kent, with particular emphasis on the benefits of fresh air and including film of massage, electrical diathermy treatment, hot wax treatment, x-rays and the use of the electro-cardiograph. Opening titles "TO EVERY CHILD A CHANCE". "THE CONVALESCENT TREATMENT AND AFTER-CARE OF JUVENILE RHEUMATISM" shots of the rear view of Victorian terraced houses. Caption "THE ACUTE STAGES OF DISEASE IS BEST TREATED IN CITY HOSPITALS", sign "Royal Northern Hospital Entrance for Accidents and In and Out Patients. Funds Urgently Needed". Exterior view of the Hospital. Child in an iron framed bed being administered to by a nurse. Interior view of a children's ward. Caption "SOME CONVALESCENT CASES ABOUT TO LEAVE GREAT ORMOND STREET", interior view of a children's ward. Children dressed in day clothes. Caption "CONVALESCENCE IS ARRANGED BY THE INVALID CHILDREN'S AID ASSOCIATION", shot of a large building, presumably the ICAA Headquarters. Caption "MISS MANSON THE UNTIRING SECRETARY INTERVIEWS ONE OF THE PATIENTS", shot of Miss Manson at her desk. A smiling young girl is brought in to the room and talks with Miss Manson. Caption "TRANSPORT TO THE CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL IS ARRANGED EITHER BY TRAIN - ", shot of the exterior of Charing Cross railway station, London, shot of Platform 1, children getting in to a third class carriage of a Southern Railways train, shot of the train departing the station. Caption "- OR BY AMBULANCE", ambulance arriving at the front of a The Children's Heart Hospital. Close-up of the ambulance emblem "St John Ambulance Brigade - Addiscombe". Stretcher case being unloaded from ambulance (BRK 292) and carried in to the building. Small child being carried in to the building in the arms of a nurse. Caption "THE CHILDREN'S HEART HOSPITAL WEST WICKHAM KENT IS RUN BY THE ICAA SPECIALLY FOR THE CASES", views of the exterior of the building and low single storey wards which open out on to terraces and an area of lawn. Shots of occupied beds on the terraces outside of the wards. Interior view of an unoccupied ward. Signs above cots in the wards including "Prudential Assurance Cot". View of a wireless on a bracket on the wall of one of the wards and a sign noting donation of the equipment in 1936. Child in an iron framed cot. Doctor holding a small child. Caption "HEART CASES REQUIRE PROLONGED REST, AND OPEN AIR IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE TREATMENT", view looking down over children in their beds on the terraces and a view over the lawn. Small children in iron cots in the sunshine. Close-ups of the children in their beds in the open-air. Line of children seated in wooden wheelchairs in the open-air. Caption "THE BEDS HAVE SIMPLE BACK RESTS", nurse holding a slatted wooden back rest. Close-up of a child in bed. Caption "ARTHRITIS IS ALSO TREATED HERE, AND REQUIRED MASSAGE -", child lying on a massage table in the open-air being massaged. Caption " - OR ELECTRICAL TREATMENT DIATHERMY", close-up of the diathermy equipment and application of diathermy to a child's waist. Caption "- OR HOT WAX TREATMENT", thermometer taking the temperature of molten wax in an enamel bowl. Girl's arm being covered with wax. Caption "ARTHRITIS MAY ATTACK MANY JOINTS", close-up of a child's wrist, fingers, elbows and ankles. Caption "THIS CHILD HAS IT'S NECK AFFECTED AND REQUIRED A SUPPORTING COLLAR". close-up of a small girl seated in her bed with her head supported by two hands. Close-up of a supporting collar being fitted to the girl's neck. Caption "SOME CASES WITH HEART DISEASE STILL HAVE ACTIVE RHEUMATISM, NODULES FOR INSTANCE - " close-up of emaciated and deformed knees. Caption "- OR A RASH" close-up of skin discolouration on the back and legs of a small child. Caption "OR SIGNS OF AUSCULTATION", Doctor listening to a child's chest with his stethoscope. Caption "THE X-RAYS ARE SOMETIMES A HELP IN DIAGNOSIS" , shots of x-ray equipment (sign "London W4 x-ray car"), portable x-ray in use on one of the open-air terraces, small child holding an x-ray plate against the front of her body. Caption "ALSO ELECTRO-CARDIOGRAPH", child wired to an electro-cardiograph and the operator sitting next to the equipment. Caption "THE SEDIMENTATION RATE OF THE BLOOD IS A VALUABLE SIGN, AND IS CHECKED ONCE A FORTNIGHT" sample of blood being taken from a child's finger and the sedimentation monitored with the use of a pocket watch and ruler. Caption "EVIDENCE OF CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT IS A NORMAL TEMPERATURE AND PULSE RATE -", close-up of a medical chart. Caption " - AND A STEADY GAIN IN WEIGHT AND A FALL IN THE SEDIMENTATION RATE", another close-up of a medical chart. Caption "SORE THROATS ARE A DANGER TO THE RHEUMATIC CHILD. SWABS ARE TAKEN FROM SUSPECTS", throat swab being taken from a child. Caption "WHO ARE ISOLATED", view of a single bed ward. Caption "SCHOOL PLAYS A PROMINENT PART", interior shot in the hospital's school rooms. Caption "OUT OF DOORS WHENEVER POSSIBLE", school classes in the grounds and on the terraces. Caption "PLAYTIME", interior shots of a playroom with a doll's house, hobby horse, many dolls in beds, books and a child playing the piano. Caption "SUN BATHING IS BENEFICIAL", group of children, dressed only in their underwear, playing on the lawn in sunshine. Caption "SELECTED EXERCISES LATER IN CONVALESCENCE" children, dressed only in their underwear, exercising on the lawn in sunshine. Group of girls playing and dancing. Group of boys, wearing only their underwear, playing cymbals, tambourines and rattles. Caption "AND WALKS", group of girls walking hand-in-hand along a path in the grounds. Captions "VEGETABLES ARE HOME GROWN" view of greenhouses and two gardeners at work in a vegetable garden. Caption "TEATIME", nurses preparing sandwiches, children standing saying Grace by the dining tables, children eating sandwiches, children in their beds on the terraces eating their tea and two nurses carrying a large cooking pot full of dirty crockery. Caption "MEDICINE TIME AND THE TEMPERATURE TAKING" nurse administering a spoon of medicine to a child in bed and a nurse taking the temperature and pulse of another child. Caption "THE THERMOMETERS ARE KEPT COMPLETELY IMMERSED IN ANTISEPTIC" thermometers in an enamel dish full of antiseptic liquid. Caption "THE DENTAL SURGEON", Dentist inspects a child's teeth. Caption "ALL AGES ARE DEALT WITH", small child posing for the camera. Caption "AND FINALLY ARE FIT TO GO HOME", child leaving the hospital accompanied by a nurse and a group of children wave from the front steps. Caption "MATRON SAYS GOODBYE", Matron poses for the camera on the front steps. Four children and a woman departing in a third class train carriage. Caption "WITHOUT VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS THIS WORK CAN NOT GO ON", sustained shot over a large wooden plaque listing the names and organisations of those who have donated. Caption "THE AFTERCARE AT THE RHEUMATIC CLINIC" women and children walking through a meeting hall. Caption "MISS STEGGALL A PILLAR OF THE ICAA", Miss Steggall at her desk. Doctor examining a girl. The second part of the films covers the work of the London County Council Bromley Hall Road School for Physically Defective Children (Girls), which again emphasises the benefits of fresh air and shows teaching and recreational activities. Caption "SPECIAL SCHOOLS ARE PROVIDED BY THE LCC FOR CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASE". Caption "EACH MORNING THEY ARE TAKEN FROM THEIR HOME BY AMBULANCE", shot of a "London County Council School's Ambulance" (a coach). Child posing for the camera and then boarding the coach. Two women waiting by a garden gate in a suburban street. Teenage girl boarding the coach. Children leaving the coach at the school entrance. Caption "ON ARRIVAL THEY HAVE THEIR MILK FIRST", girls registering and receiving a bottle of milk, girls seated at their desk in the open-air in a small playground. Caption "HANDICRAFTS ARE A GREAT FEATURE", small girl weaving (?), girl painting, practical arithmetic lesson in the playground - girl measuring out water with various size jugs. Playground shop with vegetables and scales. Caption "GAMES AND RECREATION", girls playing various ball games in the playground. Caption "A NURSE IS ALWAYS IN ATTENDANCE" nurse bandaging a girl's knee. Caption "REST", four small girls climb in to beds in the playground. Caption "LEARNING DRESS MAKING FOR THE FUTURE", sewing class inside a classroom. Teenage girls hand sewing and using a foot treadle sewing machine. Girl pinning a garment to a dressmaker's model. Caption " DINNERS ARE PROVIDED AT SCHOOL", cooks at work in the school kitchen. Girls at play in the playground and then forming two lines and entering the building. Shot of the school sign. Caption "THE MAJORITY OF THESE CHILDREN GROW INTO USEFUL CITIZENS, AND TAKE UP VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS", shots of various people at work, hairdresser, milliner, nurse (nanny?), man servant/butler, man writing at a desk and women ironing. Caption "PERHAPS THE MAJORITY FIND WORK IN FACTORIES" exterior shots of "Gillette", "Baker - soldering fluids" and "Macleans" factories. The film ends with the ICAA's symbol - a round emblem containing the image of a small girl with outstretched arms - and the motto "TO EVERY CHILD A CHANCE"
  • Alternative Title: INVALID CHILDREN'S AID ASSOCIATION [Allocated Title] AMATEUR FILM BY ROSIE NEWMAN [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: MGH 5163
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (MGH 5163)
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1937
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Newman, RosieBritish film-maker, "Britain at War" (Production individual) Newman, RosieBritish film-maker, "Britain at War" (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: English Subtitle language: None
  • Technical Details: Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 761 ft; Running time: 32 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 5163

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