GVS WORKING IN THE COMMUNITY
The work of the GVS in the community has been wide and varied, some of the services continue to the present day whilst others fulfilled a short term need and are now no longer required.
One of the first major initiatives taken independently on Guernsey was the WRVS Hearing Aid scheme which ran for many years. It was started by Miss Ross in 1957 and was in response to a need for the hard of hearing to have access to specialists who could provide hearing aids. The service, working with the Ardente Hearing Services, saw about 70 patients a month. The WRVS organised the clinic, kept records and provided transport.
In 1961 Guernsey was selected for a cohort study into breast and other forms of cancer. Over 11,000 women took part in the project which lasted for 30 years. The WRVS was key to the organisation of the collection of blood and urine samples, they also made the women welcome and provided tea and refreshments. The samples were collected at Ash House in the Bordage. The project was financed by the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the samples form the basis of the work for Hope for Guernsey which started in 2006.
In the 1950s through the auspices of the local WRVS some 200 children per month in Malaya received comics, whilst wives of Ghurka soldiers were sent books and magazines. During the period between 1956 and the 1970s 25 tons of magazines were sent to the forces abroad. Locally, magazines were supplied to residents of the Le Platon, Les Cotils, Castel Hospital, the Victoria Homes, the Children’s Home, the prison and the Hanois lighthouse - whose keepers also received Christmas hampers courtesy of the local WRVS.
The Holiday Scheme initiative provided holidays in Guernsey for deprived children from Jersey, and to celebrate the Queens Silver Jubilee 22 children between the ages of 7 and 12 arrived from deprived homes in the London area for a fortnight’s free holiday on Guernsey. Accommodation and entertainment was organised by the Guernsey branch of the WRVS which also sent deprived local children on holiday to Jersey.
The local branch also had a section which provided musical entertainment: they visited local hospitals and entertained elderly visitors brought over by the Island Reception Committee. The WRVS made hospital visits, both on island and also to islanders on the mainland via the UK service.
In Alderney help could be of a very personal nature, for example: "a house was cleaned and prepared for an old lady coming out of hospital: fires were lit, food prepared and 2 cwt of coal delivered as a gift". The local branch took food each day to the 'diggers' on the iron age site on Longy Common and the WRVS was asked to undertake the transport arrangements of a French pilgrimage visiting the island on the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the slave camps. In the 1960s a request was made for the WVS to help the 12 men who were exhuming the bodies of the 400 Todt organisation workers who died during the occupation and were buried in a communal pit. Each day the members took the men tea and biscuits. In 1968 members helped with problems which arose owing to the flu epidemic and the WRVS were always on hand to help passengers stranded by fog.
The Guensey Airport Hut was opened in 1958 at the instigation of Mrs Nancy Blampied and Miss M Ross. Initially called the Airport Creche it provide accommodation for passengers stranded due to poor weather. It was especially hard for families with young children as the airport facilities were meagre so the WRVS provided toys, tea, blankets and a quiet place for mothers to feed their babies. The Hut was closed in 1978 when facilities at the airport improved.
The delivery of firewood to the housebound throughout Guernsey was known as Wooding- it ensured that vulnerable people were kept warm and that they had regular visitors. With the advent of central heating there was found to be little need for the service and it discontinued.
Whenever there was a need for ancillary help the WRVS could be relied upon to provide aid, such as providing field kitchens in civil defence exercises, manning the hospital reception desk, helping with a baby clinic at the Guet. The GVS proudly maintains the tradition of recognising a need and responding to it.
One of the first major initiatives taken independently on Guernsey was the WRVS Hearing Aid scheme which ran for many years. It was started by Miss Ross in 1957 and was in response to a need for the hard of hearing to have access to specialists who could provide hearing aids. The service, working with the Ardente Hearing Services, saw about 70 patients a month. The WRVS organised the clinic, kept records and provided transport.
In 1961 Guernsey was selected for a cohort study into breast and other forms of cancer. Over 11,000 women took part in the project which lasted for 30 years. The WRVS was key to the organisation of the collection of blood and urine samples, they also made the women welcome and provided tea and refreshments. The samples were collected at Ash House in the Bordage. The project was financed by the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the samples form the basis of the work for Hope for Guernsey which started in 2006.
In the 1950s through the auspices of the local WRVS some 200 children per month in Malaya received comics, whilst wives of Ghurka soldiers were sent books and magazines. During the period between 1956 and the 1970s 25 tons of magazines were sent to the forces abroad. Locally, magazines were supplied to residents of the Le Platon, Les Cotils, Castel Hospital, the Victoria Homes, the Children’s Home, the prison and the Hanois lighthouse - whose keepers also received Christmas hampers courtesy of the local WRVS.
The Holiday Scheme initiative provided holidays in Guernsey for deprived children from Jersey, and to celebrate the Queens Silver Jubilee 22 children between the ages of 7 and 12 arrived from deprived homes in the London area for a fortnight’s free holiday on Guernsey. Accommodation and entertainment was organised by the Guernsey branch of the WRVS which also sent deprived local children on holiday to Jersey.
The local branch also had a section which provided musical entertainment: they visited local hospitals and entertained elderly visitors brought over by the Island Reception Committee. The WRVS made hospital visits, both on island and also to islanders on the mainland via the UK service.
In Alderney help could be of a very personal nature, for example: "a house was cleaned and prepared for an old lady coming out of hospital: fires were lit, food prepared and 2 cwt of coal delivered as a gift". The local branch took food each day to the 'diggers' on the iron age site on Longy Common and the WRVS was asked to undertake the transport arrangements of a French pilgrimage visiting the island on the 25th anniversary of the liberation of the slave camps. In the 1960s a request was made for the WVS to help the 12 men who were exhuming the bodies of the 400 Todt organisation workers who died during the occupation and were buried in a communal pit. Each day the members took the men tea and biscuits. In 1968 members helped with problems which arose owing to the flu epidemic and the WRVS were always on hand to help passengers stranded by fog.
The Guensey Airport Hut was opened in 1958 at the instigation of Mrs Nancy Blampied and Miss M Ross. Initially called the Airport Creche it provide accommodation for passengers stranded due to poor weather. It was especially hard for families with young children as the airport facilities were meagre so the WRVS provided toys, tea, blankets and a quiet place for mothers to feed their babies. The Hut was closed in 1978 when facilities at the airport improved.
The delivery of firewood to the housebound throughout Guernsey was known as Wooding- it ensured that vulnerable people were kept warm and that they had regular visitors. With the advent of central heating there was found to be little need for the service and it discontinued.
Whenever there was a need for ancillary help the WRVS could be relied upon to provide aid, such as providing field kitchens in civil defence exercises, manning the hospital reception desk, helping with a baby clinic at the Guet. The GVS proudly maintains the tradition of recognising a need and responding to it.