Extract from a letter written by Robert Davies to his friend, Rosemary Tomlin-Ruston, regarding a Voluntary Community Service volunteer, Cardiff, 11 August 1966

Description

Handwritten extract from a letter written by Robert Davies, a founder of Voluntary Community Service, to his friend, Rosemary Tomlin-Ruston.

The subject of the letter is a young Voluntary Community Service (VCS) Community Service Volunteer in Cardiff called Charles Coombes. It praises his work and dedication and also mentions different VCS projects in Cardiff, such as an Adventure Playground and an International Voluntary Service Child Care Camp.

Transcription:

"We are very pleased in Cardiff with our C.S. volunteer. He is 18 and the son of an Anglican parson in Portishead where his mother is very active in voluntary welfare work. He has thoroughly good background and socialises well and this characteristic has been very helpful during this summer period with four full-time work camps. The adventure playground has been successfully completed and officially opened by George Thomas as Minister of State for Wales. (The hospital committee insisted on this – I didn’t know where to hide!) The IVS child care camp for mentally handicapped children is still in progress. UNA of Splott has decorated in six homes in the first half of the 3 week camp. A non-residential volunteer holiday nursery is in full swing in Butetown. Today I start as co-leader of the Family Service camp at Butetown Community Centre – 213 Bute Street – and shall be in residence there for three weeks. Essentially things are going well. Although many little things are going wrong of course and are not quite as efficient as they might be … I am developing the philosophy that “what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.” It makes delegation easier."

Voluntary Community Service (VCS) was established in Cardiff in October 1964 with main aim, as stated in its constitution, to promote any charitable purposes, advancement of education, and relief of poverty, distress, and sickness in the City of Cardiff. Originally VCS co-ordinated a team of volunteers involved in activities such as helping elderly people with gardening and decorating, running summer ‘work camps’ for children and young people. Its mission today is to enable people who are most disadvantaged to engage with rewarding volunteering opportunities, facilitating their personal development and employment prospects.