Letter from Robert Davies, founder of Voluntary Community Service (VCS), to Brenda King, a volunteer from Jerusalem (Israel), Cardiff, 1 December 1966

Description

Handwritten letter from Robert Davies to Brenda King, a volunteer from Jerusalem, Israel. This is in reply to a letter of sympathy received from Brenda King regarding the Aberfan disaster. Robert Davies describes the current situation of the Borges family, Voluntary Community Service (VCS) work with disadvantaged children and mentions a work camp conference attracting volunteers from Cardiff and the rest of the country.

Transcription:

"Dear Brenda [King],
I very much appreciated your letter of sympathy. A few may not realise how much a consolation it is when someone, the other side of the world, bothers to write. It was indeed a horrific incident [re: Aberfan tip slide]. How all along, I have felt we must keep a sense of proportion – every day children the world over are suffering from things that we could more easily prevent if only we had the will. It is a disastrous world! – last night we heard of a seven storey building collapsing in Scotland, killing four and injuring many other workmen our age on its construction.
I must thank you, for be it rather tardily, for your first letter addressed to both Alan and me. I know he replied to you almost at once, so perhaps this excuses me. There have been a few developments since his reply. We have found a couple of sound volunteers to take a continuing interest in the Mohammed’s. You will be pleased to learn of the […] improvement in the condition of the house and the children. Our new volunteers have taken the children out on two Saturdays. The family should be moving into a new council house almost any week now. Once they become settled we shall probably fade out by stages. With regard to the Borges, at last the husband has now returned and seems to be holding down a steady job. It’s difficult to say whether the children have improved – they still appear as wild as ever. Alan and I with a couple of other volunteers took them out the other weekend. I see Father Hall from time to time who is almost in daily touch with them. He is convinced now that at a critical time we helped save the mother from a nervous breakdown. The Play Leadership Scheme is planned to continue again at Christmas holiday.
We held a work camp conference over last weekend, attended by sixty or more volunteers from Cardiff and other parts of the country. Besides certain social aspects which were very enjoyable, the discussions were most earnest and will contribute much to our work. The main decision of the conference is that we should now begin to look at group activities with the community as well as continuing our programme of personal service.
Many thanks for the beautiful book of pictures. How I should like to visit your country!
I trust that your studies are now well under way again and that everything is going well. I do hope that one day we may meet again.
Yours sincerely – Robert Davies"

Robert Davies, who actively volunteered with VCS, UNA, and many other organisations, is currently VCS Honorary President. He founded Voluntary Community Service (VCS) in Cardiff in October 1964. The organisation's main aim, as stated in its constitution, is 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.