Mildred “Milly” Andrew received a special 100th birthday present on Monday when her name was added to the Australia Day honour roll.
Born and raised in Williamstown before moving to an Altona Meadows nursing home, Mrs Andrew was recognised for service to children with disabilities with a Medal of the Order of Australia.
She was a carer and manager at the former Footscray Spastic Children’s Centre from 1953-1972.
She helped raise funds for the Scope Chislon centre in Maidstone – for people with multiple disabilities and high support needs – where she was a carer for more than 20 years.
Mrs Andrew first cared for a child with a disability 60 years ago when she and her friend gave birth around the same time. Her friend’s baby had cerebral palsy.
“Very often, I minded her little boy, and from that it grew,” Mrs Andrew said.
“He had to attend the children’s hospital … she got talking to other mothers in there and must have told them about me minding her little boy and so eventually other people came to ring me up.
“Within the year, I was looking after four and five, so then we decided, with the mothers concerned, that we’d try and have a club where we could confer, and that’s what we did.
“It grew from that and when I resigned, we had 80 attending.
“When I finished, we had physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and we had a doctor coming from the children’s hospital to see the children.
“We had no government assistance in those days so we had to raise the money ourselves.”
Mrs Andrew said she felt “a bit guilty” receiving the Australian Day award.
“I don’t feel I deserve it, I really don’t.
“I think the work that I did with the disabled children was the most rewarding, most satisfying, and perhaps the happiest years of my life.
“And that’s why I feel that the award is hardly justified, because I got so much from it. I got a lot of satisfaction from it and I’ve got some wonderful memories of the days we spent there and the parents, they were lovely people: so grateful and so helpful to each other.”
