Group    From 1938 

Women's Voluntary Services

Categories: Benefactor

A voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need throughout the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, as a British women's organisation to recruit women into the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) services to help in the event of war. In 1966 its name was changed to the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, and in 2004 to just the WRVS. In 2013 it became the Royal Voluntary Service, to acknowledge the fact that some of its members were men.

In 2017 the Guardian reported that the archives of the organisation's 'narrative reports' are available on-line.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Women's Voluntary Services

Commemorated ati

Stella, Lady Reading

Stella Lady Reading, 1894 - 1971, Founder of the Women's Voluntary Services, ...

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Other Subjects

Sir John Isaac Thornycroft

Sir John Isaac Thornycroft

Civil engineer.  Son of Thomas and Mary Thornycroft.  Born Rome.  Studied and began work in Glasgow.  Then studied at the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at South Kensingt...

Person, Benefactor, Engineering

1 memorial
William Nicholson

William Nicholson

Distiller, politician, cricket player, benefactor.  Born Upper Holloway into a gin distillery family.  They made Lamplighter gin at Three Mills on the River Lea.  The business moved into running pu...

Person, Benefactor, Food & Drink, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Horatio Prater

Horatio Prater

Our colleague, Andrew Behan, has found someone who is probably our man, Andrew writes: I can find no evidence of an H. Prater in the Croydon area in the 1880's so I believe that the Historic Engla...

Person, Benefactor, Medicine

2 memorials
Edward Bostock

Edward Bostock

Bostock.net has an obituary and some photographs, and supplied the information here. Born Hampstead, son of Geoffrey.  Worked as a chartered accountant, a partner in the family firm of Annan Dexte...

Person, Benefactor, Politics & Administration

2 memorials

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Hatton Garden - charity girl

Hatton Garden - charity girl

EC1, Hatton Garden

Ornamental Passions tells us "A pair of schoolchildren flanked each entrance, as was customary, but one pair was later transferred to St ...

2 subjects commemorated