How to Help the Soldiers

From Woman’s Weekly, 2nd February 1918

LITTLE WAYS OF HELPING THE SOLDIERS.

You’re Sure to Find Something Here which you Could Do for the Fighting Men.

ALL of us want to help; that goes without saying.  But so many of us have little or no actual coin to give, so our contributions must be made in other ways.  Every woman, however poor or busy, can help in at least one of the little ways suggested here.  And many a mickle makes a muckle, you know!

YOUR OLD GLOVES. 
HAS it ever occurred to you that you can do better with your worn-out kid and suede gloves than to throw them away?  The Glove Waistcoat Society will be only too glad to have them, for by a magic of its own it transforms them into windproof waistcoats, which are the greatest possible comfort in the trenches or at sea.  All the good parts of the gloves are cut out and stitched together on to a shaped lining. and in this way thousands of cold-defying garments are made. 
They are glad of any sort of leather and any sort of fur, even the old scraps left from fur-lined gloves or old fur rugs, not to mention the worn leather from dining-room suites.  Every scrap is utilised in one way or another.  So please make up a big parcel, and address it to The Glove Waistcoat Fund, 75, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. 2.

OLD CIVILIAN CLOTHES. 
IN many homes there are good civilian clothes which were left behind when husbands and brothers stepped into khaki, and some of these, alas! their owner will never need again.  Could there be a better way of using these valued relics than by sending them to some unfortunate civilian who is a prisoner of war in Germany?  As we all know, captives in the hands of the Huns suffer many hardships, of which lack of warm clothing is not the least. Don't let those unused suits hang another season in the cupboard.  Send them to one of these addresses: 
Miss N. Cotton, Pinewood, Camberley, Surrey.
Lady Dodds, Devonshire House, Piccadilly. (These go to Ruhleben.)
Or if you have a fellow-feeling for the Indian soldiers fighting so splendidly by our side, send the garments, with any comforts you can spare in the way of mufflers, mittens, etc., to The Indian Soldiers' Fund, 11, Somerset Street, London, W. 1.
Have you a pair of field glasses?  You can do without them, but they would be invaluable to some Army officer who cannot afford to buy himself a pair.  Send them to The National Service League, 72, Victoria Street, London, S.W. 1.

SPARE-TIME SEWING. 
IF you have some spare time in which you could do some interesting light sewing for our wounded men, you couldn't do better than make some of the "gay bags" which Lady Smith-Dorrien sends out to wounded men in hospital.  They are just home-made bags of bright cretonne, and so simple that anyone could manage them successfully.  Every wounded Tommy gets one in which to keep his letters and other little treasures while he is in hospital, and it is difficult to tell you how much pleasure they give to our brave fellows.  This is a wee way of helping that ought to appeal to school-girls as well as to older people.
Make the bags ten inches long by nine inches wide, and pulling up at the top on a drawstring.  Please choose a nice, cheerful cretonne; a rose design some sort is what the wounded Tommies like best of all.  Then send your bags to Lady Smith-Dorrien, 21, Eaton Terrace , London, S.W. 1.

GAMES AND PLAYING-CARDS. 
OF course, everybody knows that books and magazines for the troops can be handed over the counter of any post office, but it is not such common knowledge that games, such as draughts, halma, chess, playing-cards, etc., are just as welcome. These cannot be transmitted through a post office, but should be sent to The War Library, Surrey House, Marble Arch, London, W. 1.  Lady Newnes's Fund, 83, Pall Mall, London, S.W. 1, is also very grateful not only for books, but for gramophones, to send out to the wounded in Egypt.

FOR THOSE WHO KNIT.
IF you have time to knit or sew comforts, over and above those for your own special soldier and sailor boys, don't forget the splendid work that is done by Queen Mary's Needlework Guild in sending out every kind of hospital requisite free to the hospitals.  Among their needs are ward shirts, pyjamas, socks, bed-jackets, and scarves.  Parcels should be addressed to The Central Depôt Surgical Branch, Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, 2, Cavendish Square, London, W. 1.

DO YOU USE WAR SEALS? 
DO you seal all your letters with a War Seal?  If not, please start this practice, and by doing so you will be helping to raise money for benefit of disabled soldiers and sailors.  The seals are brown and diamond-shaped and cost ½d. each— not much; but all the profits go to helping our brave broken men.  The seals can be bought at most big stores, but if you have any difficulty in getting them, write to The War Seal Foundation, Coliseum Buildings, London, W.C. 2.