We had a big problem. By the end of World War I, New Zealand had alarming levels of child malnutrition and poor health. National focus had been directed overseas for the war effort, and many services at home were stretched thin. The war left many families in economic hardship, especially those already living in rural or low-income communities.
Children were arriving at school undernourished, pale, and underweight. Their diets were often lacking in fresh produce and protein—some didn’t even know what vegetables were. Many lacked adequate clothing, sunlight, and exercise, and often slept poorly in overcrowded homes.
At the time, New Zealand had no comprehensive school health service. Although school inspectors might note signs of poor health, there was no established system to refer children for preventive or non-urgent care. Hospitals were not equipped to manage children who simply needed better nutrition and rest.
In response, a shift in public and professional attitudes emerged. Increasingly, it was recognised that the state had a responsibility to support child welfare, not just individual families. New research was linking nutrition, environment, and education to long-term wellbeing, and there was growing awareness that child health care needed to be proactive, not reactive.
In 1919, this momentum was given form by Dr Elizabeth Gunn, a school doctor with military experience, a booming voice, and a deep concern for children’s wellbeing. Shocked by what she saw in schools, she made a bold wager with a member of the Wanganui Hospital Board: that she could improve the health of frail children using only tents, basic equipment, nourishing food, fresh air, and daily routine.
With support from the Defence Department and community volunteers, she ran a three-week experimental camp for 55 children in Turakina Valley. Almost all gained weight and showed signs of recovery.
It worked, and it sparked a movement of civic duty to children, a health reset: Children’s Health Camp movement.. ‘Sunshine Camps’
New Zealand’s first purpose-built, proactive approach to child health was a structured, community-supported environment designed to rebuild children’s bodies and spirits.
The camp was not a holiday. The early camps were modelled on army life, with camping and highly structured routines, as well as plenty of outdoor activity and regular meals. By the late 1920s, health camps were seen as crucial for combatting tuberculosis. The public health intervention of the camp was designed to improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of children who were frail, malnourished, or neglected. It offered a structured daily routine of nutritious meals, fresh air, exercise, rest, and hygiene, run in Defence Department tents by student teachers, nurses, and volunteers—built on the belief that preventive care, not hospitalisation, was the key to a healthier nation.
Timaru, Waimate, Temuka, and surrounding rural areas were referred to the Roxburgh Health Camp in Central Otago which was established in the 1940s. Many South Canterbury volunteers and service groups, such as the Country Women’s Institute and local lodges contributed food, clothing, and preserves to support the Roxburgh camp. Glenelg, was old Cashmere Hills mansion that served as the Christchurch children’s health camp for 30 kids at a time.
Children arrived with rickets, asthma, sores, emotional trauma, poverty, neglect—or simply no idea what a vegetable was; they left with healthier bodies, stronger routines, and, sometimes for the first time, a sense of hope.
In 1932 the first permanent camp was built at Ōtaki and four years later a national federation was introduced to oversee the operation of all the camps. Funding began to flow in from central government and also from the sale of specially issued postage stamps.
In the 1950s the camps were taken under the government’s wing and eventually seven were established nationwide, from Whangārei in the North to Roxburgh in the deep south. Looking after our nations’ future by seeing to the health needs of our youngest citizens was seen as good policy.
In the 1970s experts had been wondering if they were needed anymore and a review in 1983 called them ‘moribund’. Funding began to dry up, debt mounted and maintenance of the sites began to suffer. By the mid-1990s, the camps could afford to take only about half of all children eligible for treatment.
In 2001, after consultation, the government stepped away from the camps, handing them over to a new charitable trust that refocused their mission and gave them a new name. STAND Children’s Services/Tu Maia Whanau became a specialist health service focused on establishing healing relationships inside an environment of care.
In 2018 after a lack of funding, two camps - Roxburgh in Central Otago and Moana Sinclair’s beloved Ōtaki, were closed down due to lack of funding, remote locations and ageing facilities. Camps were set to continue in a new form, "to deal mainly with emotional and behavioural problems, and encourage parents to stay with their children for part of their five weeks in residence". odt.co.nz/roxburgh-health-camp
As of 2025, STAND was contracted to Oranga Tamariki
Ministry for Children to provide a more wraparound service by working with a child’s whānau, school, and neighbourhood. The camps, now called Children’s Villages, have become therapeutic communities. Respite Camps for Children in Care: Oranga Tamariki offers residential respite camps during school holidays for tamariki aged 5–12 who are in foster care or living with extended whānau. These camps provide a supportive environment where children can engage in new activities, build social skills, and enjoy a break from their usual routines. The camp setting fosters peer connections and contributes to improved resilience and self-esteem, benefiting both the children and their caregivers .orangatamariki.govt.nzorangatamariki.govt.nz
In 2024, Oranga Tamariki initiated a Military-Style Academy pilot targeting rangatahi aged 15–17 with complex backgrounds and histories of offending. The program includes a three-month residential phase focusing on structure, education, and rehabilitation, followed by a nine-month community reintegration component. Early evaluations indicated that participants responded positively to the structured environment, with many achieving educational milestones. However, challenges such as staff shortages and the need for enhanced cultural support were noted .rnz.co.nz+6orangatamariki.govt.nz+6en.wikipedia.org+6en.wikipedia.org These contemporary programs reflect Oranga Tamariki's commitment to supporting the health, development, and familial connections of tamariki and rangatahi, adapting traditional concepts like health camps to meet current needs and contexts.
Health camps were partly funded through annual sales of health stamps and covers (envelopes). This raised awareness of health camps and what they achieved by bringing them into the consciousness of New Zealanders. The stamps and their accompanying posters also promoted New Zealand’s image, both nationally and internationally, as a supposedly healthy, humanitarian country concerned for its future.
Left: Poster, '1936 Health Stamp Campaign', 1936, New Zealand, by B.E. Pike. Purchased 2001. Te Papa (GH009884) Right: Poster, 'The "Royal" Road To National Fitness!', 1943, Wellington, by C.M. Banks Ltd. Purchased 2001. Te Papa (GH009888)
Left: Issued one penny 'Boy and Girl on Swing' Health stamp, 1942, Melbourne, by Note Printing Branch, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Samuel Hall. The New Zealand Post Museum Collection, Gift of New Zealand Post Ltd. 1992. Te Papa (PH000377). Right: Issued one penny 'Beach Ball' Health stamp overprinted with '2d', 1939, Melbourne, by Note Printing Branch, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Samuel Hall. The New Zealand Post Museum Collection, Gift of New Zealand Post Ltd. 1992. Te Papa (PH000358)
The camps were among the country's oldest social services, dating to 1919. Since 1929 they have been part-funded by annual NZ Post health stamps, however the camps' main source of money was from taxpayers.
Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20728, 15 May 1937, Page 4
References: Tennant, M (1994). Children’s Health, The Nation’s Wealth. A History of Children’s Health Camps. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books
McGuire Catherine Agnes death notice Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33271, 7 July 1973, Page 47. Survey Photography - 1956 Timaru Hospital. PA Group 00080 Whites Aviation Ltd Photographs. nlnzimage
Lived a stones throw from the hospital, a healthy and caring legacy:
Remembering Nurse Catherine McGuire
This photo from 1956, taken from above Timaru Hospital, also shows number 51 Edward Street, the home of Catherine Agnes McGuire, known to most simply as Kit. This was the house where she lived in 1960, when she received news from the Queen that she had been awarded an MBE for services to the community, particularly in connection with the South Canterbury Children’s Health Camp movement.
Kit lived here until her death in 1973. It was just a stone’s throw from the hospital where she had worked for many years. She was born in Timaru in 1896 and attended South School. In 1927 she completed her training as a psychiatric nurse at Sunnyside Hospital in Christchurch and returned to Timaru following the death of her parents. She worked part-time as a public nurse and also served as a private nurse to Dr S Fraser and Dr W H Unwin.
One of Kit’s greatest contributions was to the health and welfare of children. She was deeply involved in South Canterbury’s Health Camp movement and served as matron of the King George V Memorial Health Camp in Geraldine for more than 26 years. The summer camp was held in the Geraldine High School buildings, with classrooms converted into comfortable dormitories lined with stretchers and lockers. A 1943 article in the Timaru Herald praised her principles around diet and care. In the three years leading up to her award, she continued to serve as matron of the camp, where her warmth and leadership supported many children on the road to better health for almost three decades.
Kit also supervised State Nursing Examinations at Timaru Public Hospital for 22 years and was a member of the New Zealand Registered Nurses’ Association. She contributed her time and energy to many local organisations including the Navy League during the Second World War, St Saviour’s Orphanage, the Crippled Children Society and the South End Elderly Citizens’ Committee. She was also one of the founding members of the South Canterbury Concert Chamber Association.
Among her many efforts, she led fundraising work for a chapel at Timaru Public Hospital. Through handcrafts, sewing and organising, she raised more than £200 toward the project.
Kit’s life unfolded alongside the evolution of modern nursing in New Zealand. Although many people today think of nursing as an ancient vocation, it only became a regulated profession in the late 1800s. Florence Nightingale established the first formal nursing school in 1860, and by 1901 New Zealand became the first country in the world to pass a Nurses Registration Act. Ellen Dougherty became the world’s first state-registered nurse in 1902. These reforms set the foundation for women like Kit, who gained professional qualifications and entered the workforce at a time when many women were still expected to remain at home. Kit and others brought care and dignity into hospitals, schools, and homes, especially for the most vulnerable.
A Timaru local Laura Woollcombe was recorded by historians as the first New Zealander to receive her nursing certification by Florence Nightingale herself. Laura was the third recorded birth of a European child in Timaru, her father was the towns first government magistrate.
To become an enrolled nurse in New Zealand today, students complete a Nursing Council-approved diploma, while registered nurses complete a bachelor’s degree in health science or nursing at university level. The training has become more formal, but the calling remains the same.
Kit experienced the turn of the century, the impact of two world wars, influenze, global financial depressions and the changes of a community growth in her lifetime. It is easy to imagine her sitting in her home on Edward Street after a shift at the hospital reflecting on her day, the care she gave.
After her passing away in 1973, a scholarship fund was established in her name. When the South Canterbury Nurses’ Association dissolved in 1988, they directed the remaining funds to the Kit McGuire Fund for Education. In 2024, this was resettled with the Aoraki Foundation, ensuring her legacy continues to support the next generation. Today there is an health endowment fund that you can donate to, to leverage her gift with your contribition.
This house on Edward Street is long gone, cars park where her vege garden used to grow. But from the photo we can imagine the woman who lived here, who shaped lives, improved health, and gave her all to the people of South Canterbury.
Geraldine Health Camp Closes After Successful Season
The South Canterbury Health Camp in Geraldine concluded at the weekend, drawing widespread praise for its atmosphere, effectiveness, and the joyful well-being of the children in attendance. In a glowing report, Dr. Baker McLaglen commended co-directors Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Ruston, stating that he had "never seen children looking more peacefully happy." He noted the campers' cheerfulness, politeness, and improved health—highlighting clear eyes, brighter skin, and alertness. Remarkably, not a single child showed signs of ill health such as a furred tongue.
Dr. McLaglen praised the Geraldine District High School for providing such a well-suited venue and acknowledged the vital contribution of the staff. Special mention was given to Miss Ruth Cleland, who, with her Home Science Diploma, ensured the children were well-nourished with high-quality meals. Other key staff included Misses B. E. B. Cook, Jean Holdgate, Bertha Sandrey, and Innean Stack, all of whom served with enthusiasm and care.
Mr. Ruston reflected on the final week, describing it as a time of "real happiness" for the children and expressing his belief that many would have eagerly stayed longer. He proposed extending future camps to four weeks to enhance the health benefits. On the final day, the children were treated to a festive farewell tea by Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Maddox P. Black and enjoyed a memorable motor outing to Peel Forest, thanks to local volunteers.
The camp, the first of its kind in South Canterbury, welcomed over 300 visitors throughout its duration and was hailed as an outstanding success. Mr. Ruston extended gratitude to the T.C.H. organisations in Timaru, Waimate, and especially Geraldine for their invaluable logistical support under the direction of Jobmaster Mr. J. S. Lorimer. Special recognition was also given to Scout patrol leaders W. Shearer and S. Lawson for their sustained efforts.
This pioneering health camp not only set a high standard for future initiatives but also reinforced the value of community collaboration in supporting children's well-being. Plans are already being considered for a larger and longer camp in the coming year.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19370515.2.18
South Canterbury Health Camp to Host 100 Children in 1944
The annual South Canterbury Health Camp, organized by the South Canterbury Health Camp Committee, will be held in Geraldine from January 4 to 25, 1944. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Geraldine District High School Committee and the Education Board, the school has again been made available as the camp venue—an ideal facility for the purpose.
This year, the camp will accommodate 100 children—an increase of 40 from the previous year. To support the larger group, the committee has arranged for additional staff, including several Training College students assigned by the Manpower Officer. The committee is also pleased to welcome back Miss K. McGuire as matron and Miss H. Winter as camp cook, both of whom served with distinction in the past.
Due to the committee’s foresight in steadily acquiring equipment over previous years, the camp is now fully stocked with essentials such as stretchers, blankets, crockery, cutlery, and children’s clothing. As a result, minimal personal items will need to be brought by the children themselves.
The local community has historically shown strong support by donating food supplies—jam, eggs, vegetables, and other produce—and the committee hopes for similar generosity this year. Contributions of books, toys, and indoor games for use during wet weather are also encouraged, along with monetary donations.
The 1944 committee includes:
President: Mr. R. J. Runciman
Vice-President: Mr. C. W. Browne
Secretary: Mr. C. G. Baker
Honorary Treasurer: Mr. F. G. M. Raymond
Honorary Auditor: Mr. H. L. Warsaw
Medical Advisor: Dr. Walmsly
School Nurses: Mrs. Fraser and Miss Taine
Members: Mrs. A. R. Morrison, Messrs A. Calder, B. Wilson, and J. Olliver
Patrons: The Mayor and Mayoress of Timaru (Mr. and Mrs. A. E. S. Hanan), Mrs. W. G. Tweedy, and the Rev. Clyde Carr, M.P.
The committee looks forward to another successful camp, ensuring health, recreation, and well-being for the participating children.
- Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20728, 15 May 1937, Page 4