Women’s Royal Voluntary Service

Women's Royal Voluntary Service

<p>On 14th January 2013, to celebrate its 75th Anniversary, the Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) launched an online catalogue of significant parts of its Archive &amp; Heritage Collection as well as a free remote enquiry service. This follows over four years' work to sort, catalogue and preserve this material which has up to this point been largely inaccessible. <br /> <br /> The catalogue contains entries for over 4,500 photographs and 263 posters (c.1,100 with preview images available) dating from 1938 to the present day. It also has entries for around 50,000 or Narrative Reports from 1938-1945, which were given UNESCO UK Memory of the World Status in 2010. <br /> <br /> The enquiry service, which has been closed since 2008 to enable the cataloguing work to be undertaken, will offer up to one hour of free work for enquirers and copies of material will be available upon request (charges apply). A paid-for research service is also available for those who require larger amounts of research to be done on their behalf. The free enquiry service will be staffed by a dedicated team of volunteers supervised by the WRVS's archivist, the same team who in 2012 were awarded a Highly Commended status in the ARA Archive Volunteer Project of the Year, for their work in turning a pile of boxes in a warehouse into one of the most important archival collections in the country. <br /> <br /> This is the first phase in the continuing development of WRVS's collection which hopes to see the opening of a new repository and free onsite access within five years. <br /> <br /> ''Originally founded in 1938 as the Women’s Voluntary Services for Air Raid Precautions, WRVS is the largest volunteering organisation in British history. 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.'' <br /> <br /> ''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 social care, pioneering the practices that formed the cornerstone of modern social services.'' <br /> <br /> The catalogue and enquiry service can be accessed <a href="http://www.wrvs.org.uk/our-history" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>