Badges wot I wore ……..

Now I collect badges, which in their way are as much a way of investigating the past as an old photograph, and oral testimony or a history book.

Of course, they don’t tell all the story, but then no individual document ever does.

But they are a start, or in this case a confirmation of that simple fact that for decades certain politicians and political parties have paid lip service to the importance of the NHS but rarely dug deep to fund it adequately when in Government.

This one comes from John King, and could easily have been one I wore back in the 1980s when public services were suffering from Government cutbacks.

And in its way remains a topical badge, because despite the heroic work being done by members of the National Health Service and associated health and care services, there is no doubt that during the last decade as in the 1980s, Governments have not always matched their fulsome praise of the NHS with hard cash.

The badge is also interesting as it offers up a reference to N.U.P.E., which was The National Union of Public Employees, which existed between 1908 and 1993. The union  represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities.

The union was founded in 1908 as the National Union of Corporation Workers, became NUPE in 1928, and merged with the Confederation of Health Service Employees to form UNISON in 1993.

Location; the 1980s

Pictures; NHS badge, circa 1980, from the collection of John King, and Schools meals badge from the collection of Andrew Simpson