The International Library of Socialogy
PUBLIC POLICY, WELFARE AND social work
In 18 Volumes
| I | The Church in Social Work | Hall et al |
| II | Creative Demobolisation - Part One | Gutkind |
| III | Creative Demobolisation - Part One | Gutkind |
| IV | Higher Civil Servants in Britain | Kelsall |
| V | Housing Needs and Planning Policy | Cullingworth |
| VI | People Hall's Social Services of England and Wales | Forder |
| VII | The Price of Social Security | Williams |
| VIII | The Professional Task in Welfare Practice | Nokes |
| IX | Social Casework | Timms |
| X | Social Policies for Old Age | Shenfield |
| XI | Social Security: Beveridge and Afer | George |
| XII | Social Services in British Industry | Young |
| XIII | Social Services of Modern Britain | Hall |
| XIV | The Socialogy of Housing | Morris et al |
| XV | Voluntary Social Services since 1918 | Mess |
| XVI | Voluntary Societies and Social Policy | Roof |
| XVII | Voluntary Work and the Welfare State | Morris |
| XVIII | Working with Community Groups | Goetschius |
First published in 1948
by Routledge, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd
Reprinted 1998, 2000, 2001
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN
Transferred to Digital Printing 2007
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
1948 Henry A. Mess
1948 Introduction, Gertrude Williams
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in The International Library of Sociology. This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Voluntary Social Services since 1918
ISBN 0-415-17727-8
ISBN 978-1-1362-6364-4 (ePub)
Public Policy, Welfare and Social Work: 18 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17831-2
The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes
ISBN 0-415-17838-X
Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to greatlengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
By Henry A. Mess
By Nora Milnes
By Hilda Jennings
By Henry A. Mess
By Hilda Jennings
By Henry A. Mess and Harold King
By John Morgan
By Violet Creech-Jones
By Pearl Jephcott
By W. E. Williams
By Henry A. Mess and Constance Braithwaite
By Henry A. Mess and Constance Braithwaite
By Henry A. Mess
By Gertrude Williams
CONTRIBUTERS TO VOLUNTARY SOCIAL SERVICES IN GREAT BRITAIN SINCE 1918
Constance Braithwaite. Lecturer in Social Studies. Author of The Voluntary Citizen.
Violet Creegh-Jones. Magistrate and Member of Lambeth Borough Council and of Home Office Advisory Committee on the Treatment of Offenders. Author of pamphlet in the Fabian Research Series, Nurseries and Nursery Schools.
Hilda Jennings. Warden of the University Settlement, Bristol. Author of Brynmawr, etc.
Pearl Jephgott. Formerly member of the staff of the National Association of Girls Clubs and Mixed Clubs. Author of Girls Growing Up and Clubs for Girls.
Harold King. Publications Officer, National Council of Social Service.
H. A. Mess. Formerly Reader in Sociology, University of London.
Nora Milnes. Reader in Social Studies and Head of the Department of Social Study, University of Edinburgh. Author of A Study of Industrial Edinburgh, etc.
John Morgan. Formerly Community Centres Officer and Publications Officer of the National Council of Social Service. Lecturer and Research Associate of the School of Social Work. University of Toronto, Canda.
Gertrude Williams. Lecturer in Economics, Bedford College, University of London. Author of The Price of Social Security, Women and Work, etc.
W. E. Williams, C.B.E. Director of the Bureau of Current Affairs, Editor-in-Chief, Penguin Books.
by
GERTRUDE WILLIAMS
A WORD of explanation about this volume is necessary. It was originally planned by Henry Mess who, in the early years of the war, realized that the development of the statutory social servicesone of the outstanding features of the twentieth century and quickly gathering speedwould be immensely accelerated by the urgency of problems thrown up by war conditions. Feeling convinced that the post-war world would necessitate some radical reorganization he thought that he could perform a useful service by setting forth clearly the work that had been done by the voluntary social services in the period between the two wars, so as to make clearer the lines of demarcation between statutory and voluntary methods of providing for social needs. He was peculiarly fitted for such a task. The greater part of his adult working life had been spent in social work, including a very fruitful and constructive decade as Director of the Tyneside Council of Social Service during the worst part of the inter-war depression ; whilst his appointment as Reader in Sociology in the University of London in *933 Save the opportunity to look at the work in perspective, with a greater degree of detachment than is common to those faced with day-to-day problems in the practical field. Unfortunately the pressure of other work prevented Mess from pushing on with the book as quickly as he had intended and death overtook him in 1943 before he had completed more than a few chapters.
Both the editor and publisher of the series were anxious that the plan should not be abandoned and invited me to get together a group of contributors who between them might cover the various topics that should be included in a survey of voluntary work. By the time, however, that these arrangements were made it became evident that some alteration of the original plan was essential for the inter-war years no longer represented a clearly marked period of development as they had seemed to do when the scheme was first designed. The problems thrown up by the war were a challenge to voluntary effort as well as to statutory provision and not only did the existing social agencies undergo considerable changes in their response but also completely new organisations had to be established to deal with unprecedented situations. I came to the conclusion that no good purpose could be served by breaking off in mid-story and that, to be really valuable, the history of the voluntary social services must include some account of war time developments. Of'the chapters that Mess had already written, one What is meant by Voluntary Social Service?is concerned solely with definitions and a secondSocial Service with the Unemployeddealt with one particular period, so that this change of plan did not here introduce any serious difficulty ; as regards the others, Miss Constance Braithwaite agreed to expand and bring up to date the chapters on Philanthropic Trusts and the Finance of Voluntary Social Services, where the retention of 1939 as the end date might have forced this part of the volume out of line with the remainder and Mr. Harold King largely rewrote the chapter on Community Centres.
