September 1914: Belgian Relief Fund – Mr Verbrugghen’s Appeal

An article on page nine of The Glasgow Herald, on Wednesday the 9th of September, 1914, reads:

 

“BELGIAN RELIEF FUND.

 

MR VERBRUGGHEN’S APPEAL.

 

Mr Henri Verbrugghen addressed a meeting in the Whitehill United Free Church, Glasgow, last night

on behalf of his distressed fellow-countrymen in Belgium. The Rev. J. Leslie Murray presided over a

large audience. Mr Verbrugghen, who was in Switzerland when war was declared between France and

Germany, recounted the difficulties he had experienced in reaching this country. He directed his attention

specially to the plight of the Belgian refugees. They had to flee, not knowing whither they were going.

They boarded trains, ignorant of their destination, and landed in Paris and elsewhere, where their

plight was pitiable in the extreme. The rich were as badly off as the poor, as they were unable to draw on

their banks. He had been in communication with the Belgian Consul, who had told him that clothing,

provisions, and, above all, money, were urgently wanted now. A month hence would be too late. The

Belgian people were starving at the present moment. A collection was taken, and realised £55. An

overflow meeting was held in Rutherford United Free Church, the Rev. George Galbraith presiding.”