| Description | Oral History - Barbara Statham
Biography Sheet, Permisions, Summary Sheet, Transcriptions
Recording Details:
Barbara Statham (BS) talks about her time as a WVS and WRVS volunteer from 1965 to 2014. BS started with Meals-on-Wheels (MOW) in 1965 as a driver and went on to be MOW Organiser. Talks about working at the local office in Bedford and the other activities which took place there such as emergency services (ES) and finding work for young offenders in the office. Comments on moving on from MOW to County Hospital work, starting off as an assistant and then taking over dealing with profits. Talks about opening South Wing at Bedford Hospital, on the day she retired from hospital work. Also talks about the roles of volunteers in the different hospitals. Involved with children's holidays from 1980 for under privileged boys as housemother. Also mentions working in court canteens, contact centres working in the office answering enquiries and talks about moving offices to Rush Court. BS talks about taking on Social Transport from home and how the work diminished. Comments on the good companions work, how it started, how she became involved, over sixties clubs and how they have diminished. Talks about more recent changes to the organisation with the loss of MOW. In 1994-1996 WRVS started to disappear in the Bedfordshire area when the offices closed. In 1998 BS took on publicity for the 60th Anniversary in the local museum. Currently (2014) BS visits an elderly woman to help with correspondences as a good companion. Discusses here opinions on the current organisation Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) and how wonderful it was in the past. |