Stories of what millions of women were doing to help their communities

People Need You, © WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection

I collect online archives on the simple premise that you never know when you might need them.

So I was quite pleased to read that the Women’s Voluntary Services have launched an online catalogue containing “records of over 70,000 Narrative Reports, 4,500 photographs, and 300 posters” http://www.wrvs.org.uk/about-us/our-history

Now the purist might argue that this is no substitute for trawling the original records and holding them in your own hands, but given the locations of many of these archives that is not a realistic proposition so for any of us in a hurry and a long way away from where they are situated, an online archive is pretty neat.

And those offered up by the WRVS are fascinating.

“Originally founded in 1938 as the Women’s Voluntary Services for Air Raid Precautions, WRVS is the largest volunteering organisation in British history. This year, 2013, WRVS will be celebrating its 75th anniversary.

WVS was initially formed to help recruit women into the ARP movement assisting civilians during and after air raids by providing emergency rest centres, feeding, first aid, and perhaps most famously assisting with the evacuation and billeting of children.

© WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection

By 1943 the organisation had over one million volunteers and was involved in almost every aspect of wartime life from the collection of salvage to the knitting of socks and gloves for merchant seamen. 

After the war WRVS transformed to become a leading organisation in the field of social care, pioneering the practices that formed the cornerstone of modern social services.”*

So in an interesting article Matthew McMurray the WRVS Archivist outlined just exactly what was on offer.**

These include the Narrative Reports which in “essence a giant diary [of] over 450,000 reports .... covering the period from 1938 through to 1966, written by WVS/WRVS centre organisers in over 2,000 offices in every major town in the country.  

© WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection

They tell the stories of what millions of women were doing to help their communities, tracking changes in types of work, social attitudes and social change over 58 years.”

It is searchable by town, county or country as well as keywords, such as ‘meals on wheels’ or ‘clothing exchange’ and in some cases by individual names.

Looking at Manchester there are 75 entries running from 1939 through to 1978 and covering everything from disinfecting gas masks at the outbreak of the war to a children’s day trip to Southport in 1978.

And there are fact sheets and material for schools.  All in all a nice addition to our historical knowledge.

*Our Story, http://www.wrvs.org.uk/about-us/our-history
**Matthew McMurray WRVS Archivist, writing in Local History News, Magazine of the British Association for Local History Nu 106, Winter 2013, www.balh.co.uk

Pictures; courtesy of WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection