International Voluntary Service (IVS), formerly International Voluntary Service for Peace (IVSP), is the British branch of the Service Civil International (SCI). Founded in 1931, IVS promotes peace through volunteering, both in the United Kingdom and other countries.

Early history

SCI, of which IVS is a branch, was set up by Swiss engineer and pacifist Pierre Cérésole in the aftermath of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It organised European workcamps in which volunteers from different countries came together to reconstruct war or disaster damaged sites in a spirit of peace. In 1931 SCI sent a team of international volunteers to the Welsh colliery town of

Brynmawr ; ; ; ) is a market town, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at ...

, which was hard-hit by unemployment. The

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

, joined by student organisations, had started relief work in Brymawr in 1929. The SCI team of 37 international volunteers helped build a public park, including outdoor swimming pool and paddling pool, alongside British volunteers and local men and women, during the summer of 1931. That same year saw the foundation of the International Voluntary Service for Peace (IVSP), the British branch of SCI, with Cérésole as president and Jean Inebuit, a Swiss school-teacher working in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, as secretary. The first

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

(AGM) was held in Leeds in October 1934 and a constitution was approved at the AGM the following year. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, IVSP sent a team of volunteers to a farm at

Puigcerdà Puigcerdà (; , ) is the capital city, capital of the Catalan ''comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Cerdanya (comarca), Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts ...

, near the French frontier, to produce food for children's colonies in the area. The project had to close when the Spanish government ordered foreigners to leave the border area. There were further projects in Britain in the 1930s, including the building of a football pitch and playground in Forge Side in South Wales, work on allotment gardens in Woodchurch, Merseyside, construction of a cesspit for the

Cotswold Bruderhof The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedro ...

and construction of a playground and garden in Gateshead-on-Tyne. Local unemployed people often worked alongside the volunteers on projects. IVSP also helped in the conversion of houses into hostels for the Youth Hostels Association. During the summer of 1939, IVSP volunteers worked on a Quaker-run project to convert Carclew House in Cornwall into a reception centre for refugees. The outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939 made it impossible for IVSP to continue with international volunteering. Later that year the British government recognised IVSP work as an alternative to military service for

conscientious objectors A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or freedom of religion, religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for ...

. IVSP volunteers did planting for the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

in Hawkshead, Kershope and

Kielder Forest Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland, England, surrounding Kielder village and the Kielder Water reservoir. It is the largest man-made woodland in England with three-quarters of its covered by forest. The majority o ...

. The Forestry Commission paid the men's wages to IVSP who provided board and lodging and pocket money to the workers and used the surplus to fund more projects. Other war-time projects included: aid to the Emergency Feeding Department in the borough of

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

in east London; renovation of a hostel for war refugees in

Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...

; a demolition service to clear bomb-damaged sites in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

and

; and agricultural work in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

and Clows Top. A youth service was established to run harvest and fruit-picking camps for young people, including refugees, under the age of 18. In February 1944 IVSP, under the auspices of the Council of British Societies for Relief Abroad, sent a unit of 12 volunteers to Egypt to work in refugee camps, and in December 1944 the unit was sent to join relief efforts in Greece. Another unit went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and a third unit to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. Teams were also sent to carry out relief work in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from April 1945. In the immediate aftermath of the war, British IVSP volunteers continued with demolition work in West Ham, worked on Youth Hostels, built a summer camp for boys at

Great Bardfield Great Bardfield is a large village in the Braintree District, Braintree district of Essex, England. It is approximately northwest of the town of Braintree, Essex, Braintree, and approximately southeast of Saffron Walden. The village came to ...

, Essex, and carried out work for the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

clearing ground at

Polesden Lacey Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian era, Edwardian house and estate, located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties. This Regenc ...

in Surrey. The organisation gradually resumed its international character, with a mutual exchange of volunteers from other European countries.

Recent history and current work

In the late 1950s the organisation dropped the word "Peace" from its title in order to attract support from people who were not

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. Frank Judd, who was secretary general of the organisation from 1960 to 1966, had served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Under the leadership of Judd, IVS moved away from purely "pick and shovel peace making" and towards more social programmes, for example recruiting volunteers to work in general and psychiatric hospitals. As well as camps in the UK, there were East-West camps in Socialist countries and longer-term work in developing countries. In 1971 a new office was opened to run the IVS Overseas programmes; in 1990 IVS Overseas was renamed as Skillshare International and became a separate legal entity. In 2016 Skillshare International went into administration. In recent years IVS has been placing volunteers in projects run by partner organisations, such as the Camphill communities in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and a meditation centre in Derby, rather than running their own workcamps. In 2017, IVS placed 75 volunteers on projects in the United Kingdom, while 37 volunteers went abroad. The mission of IVS is to "promote peace, justice and understanding through volunteering". The original logo of the word Pax (Latin for Peace) written over a shovel and broken sword has been replaced with a dove on a blue background. The organisation is registered as a charity in England, Wales and Scotland and has its headquarters in Edinburgh. The IVS archives have been deposited at the Hull History Centre..

References

Bibliography

*Arthur Gillette : ''One million volunteers: the story of volunteer youth service'', Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, A pelican original, 1968, 258 p. on-line
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504024040/http://www.ourstory.info/library/5-AFSIS/Gillette/volunteersTC.html , date=4 May 2008 * Hélène Monastier, Alice Brügger: ''Paix, pelle et pioche, Histoire du Service Civil International'', Editions du Service civil international, Switzerland, 1966 *SCI : ''Service Civil International 1920-1990 - 70 years of Voluntary Service for Peace and Reconciliation'', Verdun, 1990 Organizations established in 1931 Organisations based in Edinburgh Volunteer organisations in the United Kingdom Peace organisations based in the United Kingdom

Early history

Recent history and current work

See also

References

Bibliography