Coupled with the human need was the ‘heavy drain’ on the Resthaven Board’s finances. By October 1959, although the Commonwealth Government had contributed some £50,000 to new developments, there was still a shortfall of £25,000 and church contributions were declining.
So severe was the strain on resources that, on one fateful occasion, Mr H.E. Brougham (Resthaven Treasurer), asked office secretary, Miss Eileen Hill, if she would be willing to lend £1,000 to Resthaven. If she did this, he, too, would put in £1,000. It seemed that Resthaven’s overdraft had exceeded its limit, and the only way to pay staff wages was by means of this short-term loan.
As Eileen Hill said at the time:
'I was glad to be able to put the money back into the bank!'
Thankfully, financial extremities did not affect the way in which the Resthaven staff, headed by people like Sister Dorothy Wilson at Leabrook and Sister A. Trevena at Malvern, provided wonderful care to residents.
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