Download fundraising during the second world war

Second World War
FUNDRAISING
DURING THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
Fundraising during the Second World War
Duke of Gloucester’s Red Cross and St John Appeal
The Duke of Gloucester’s Red Cross and St John Appeal was the name of the campaign
to raise funds for the work of the Joint War Organisation of the British Red Cross and Order
of St John during the Second World War. The two organisations had joined together to
administer the joint relief work in wartime with maximum economy and efficiency under the
protective emblem of the Red Cross.
The appeal to raise funds for their work opened on the 9 September 1939 and closed on the
30 June 1945. The appeal was incredibly successful. Within six months the first £1million had
been raised. This was to be the largest charitable fund ever raised in the UK. The final total for
funds raised, as counted on 30 April 1946, was £54,324,408. In today’s money that figure is
more than £1,253,264,000.
Penny-a-week fund
The appeal was organised into several different categories, one of the most famous being
the penny-a-week fund. The objective was to seek small contributions from the many rather
than large contributions from the few. To do this the Red Cross asked people to contribute
one penny each week from their weekly wage, a plan which depended on long-term success
through extensive voluntary co-operation. The scheme was organised with the support of
the Trades Union Congress and the British Employers’ Confederation. It relied upon the
co‑operation of employees, who agreed to contribute the amount from their weekly earnings
and employers, who arranged for the money to be deducted.
The total collected from the penny-a-week fund and its complementary collections, the houseto-house collection and the rural pennies scheme, amounted to over £20 million – more than
one-third of the of the whole sum raised by the Duke of Gloucester’s fund.
The scheme was extended to clerical workers in commercial establishments, banks, other
institutions, shops, and the civil service.
The law governing house-to-house collections was observed. Collectors wore badges when
making their collections, they carried a certificate of authority and the money collected was put
in a sealed collecting box.
Growth of the penny-a-week fund:
Million £
Period of collection in months
July 1941
first
20
February 1942
second
7
July 1942
third
5
November 1942
fourth
4
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Fundraising during the Second World War
Growth of the penny-a-week fund continued:
Million £
Period of collection in months
March 1943
fifth
4
May 1943
sixth
3
August 1943
seventh
3
November 1943
eighth
3
January 1944
ninth
2
March 1944
tenth
2
May 1944
eleventh
2
July 1944
twelfth
2
Flag days
Another important element of the Duke of Gloucester’s Appeal was flag day, an already
established means of collecting money by charities including both the Red Cross and St John.
For the duration of the war the charities abandoned their separate flag days and held a joint
flag day to raise funds for the War Organisation. The first joint flag day was held on 10 October
1939, and was made possible so soon after the outbreak of the war through the kind action of
the London Hospitals. The hospitals placed that day, which had already been allocated for their
own collection, at the disposal of the War Organisation. In total twelve flag days were arranged;
eight national flag days, three specifically designated to raise aid for Russia, and one specifically
for prisoners of war. These flag day collections raised £2,668,500.
Appeals were made to cinema audiences for their support. In 1940 and 1941 there were
collections in Odeon Cinemas during the showing of the Nurse Cavell film. The collections
amounted to £62,000. From 1943 the appeals were organised on a national basis through
the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association.
The amounts collected in each of the three years were:
1943
£256,564
1944
£312,351
1945
£296,799
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Fundraising during the Second World War
Taking into account collections in Scottish cinemas the total raised was £1,015,731.
Red Cross sales
Other ways of raising funds for the appeal included Red Cross sales, which were held by
auction and in shops throughout the country. Two depots were established in London for the
receipt of gifts, which included items such as jewellery, manuscripts by writers such as Byron,
and paintings. The auctions themselves were mainly held at Christies and Sotheby’s. The sales
raised £1,757,000.
The first sale in London at Christies was on 8 July 1940 and lasted for fourteen days. The sale
raised £84,000 and a diamond necklace was purchased for £11,600.
To find the right quality of items for the sales there were appeals for modern art, old masters,
books and manuscripts, autographs, porcelain, furs, jewels, lace, rugs and silver.
Examples of some of the gifts obtained:
>>Book of Hours c.1400-1410
>>Byron manuscript: ‘An Apostrophic Hymn by Horace Hormen Esq’
>>the manuscript of Pope’s: ‘Essay on Man’
>>a portrait by Raeburn: ‘Margaret Mair’
>>’An Allegory’ by Jean Raoux
>>’A View of Westminster’ by Samuel Scott
>>’Holy Family’ by Murillo
>>a landscape by Gainsborough
>>’Red Dress’ by Augustus John
>>a sampler worked by Charlotte Bronte at twelve years of age
>>the fountain pen used by Earl Haig throughout the First World War
>>an eighteenth century dolls house
>>Kipling’s gold cigarette case
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Fundraising during the Second World War
>>volume of etchings by Queen Victoria of the Prince Consort
In October 1942 Red Cross sales were extended all over the country. By August 1943
70 permanent shops and many more temporary shops were opened.
Most premises were loaned rent-free. In some cases owners also met the cost of lighting and
heating. Eventually 200 permanent shops were opened by branches and 150 temporary shops
were opened.
Shops and auction sales in the county branches raised £952,000:
1942 – 1943
£80,000
1943 – 1944
£396,000
1944 – 1945
£476,000
As a whole, including London, the sum raised was £1,757,000.
Churches, schools and books appeals
The sums raised by church collections each year were:
1940
£28,000
1941
£28,000
1942
£48,000
1943
£69,000
1944
£73,000
1945
£72,000
An education committee of colleges, schools and youth organisations was formed in January
1940. Its purpose was to interest older students, schoolchildren, and young people in the
work of the War Organisation and to encourage them to raise money for the Red Cross and
St John Fund.
The methods adopted were varied and ingenious. Plays and concerts were given. Fetes and
other outdoor entertainments were organised. The proceeds sometimes amounted to hundreds
of pounds. Children sold home-made items and prized possesions. Flowers and vegetables
grown in school gardens and at home were sold. Country children contributed their earnings
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Fundraising during the Second World War
from potato picking and other work on the land. By cleaning cars and bicycles, mowing lawns,
collecting firewood, and doing odd jobs of all kinds, boys and girls earned money for the fund.
As the education committee was not a collecting committee, no account was kept of the
contributions it made.
There was a book collecting campaign organised by The Times book club from April 1943
to January 1945. Collections were conducted in Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire,
Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Somerset and Devon.
The number of books received was 522,871 and the money raised totalled £15,290.
Agriculture fund
>>The agriculture fund had over 18,000 local fundraising committees in rural areas around
the country.
>>The milk marketing board arranged for milk producers to give a regular voluntary levy from
their milk cheques.
>>Livestock and poultry breeders, allotment holders, young farmers clubs, brewers and
maltsters all contributed in special ways.
>>Schoolchildren formed ‘onion clubs’ to grow extra onions for soldiers, sailors and airmen.
A considerable tonnage of onions was produced and sold to the Armed Forces, the proceeds
going to the Red Cross agriculture fund.
A permanent memorial to the Red Cross Agriculture Fund is in Windsor Great Park. In 1945
the King and members of the Royal Family planted nine red oak trees in the form of a cross.
The trees are still standing.
The main fundraising activities for the agriculture fund were gift sales and the ‘rural pennies’
collection.
Gift sales were held in market towns all over England and Wales.
>>Proceeds from the sales reached £3,154,282.
>>The highest sum from any one market came from Shrewsbury which through its sales during
the whole period produced over £110,000.
>>The most productive gift sales were those promoted by the horticulture committee which
raised almost £900,000. More than £811,000 of this came from victory garden fetes
and weeks.
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Fundraising during the Second World War
>>Nearly £205,000 was contributed by breed societies through the efforts of the pedigree
live-stock committee.
>>The small live-stock committee raised £77,000 through shows, sales and other events.
The ‘rural pennies’ scheme was the rural equivalent of the penny-a-week collection.
Growth of the agriculture fund in England and Wales:
Dec 1939 – February 1941
£451,735
March 1941 – February 1942
£433,053
March 1942 – February 1943
£1,034,223
March 1943 – February 1944
£2,098,870
March 1944 – February 1945
£2,488,491
March 1945 – February 1946
£818,816
Total
£7,388,188
Sports committee
A sports committee was formed in September 1939. Its purpose was to secure the interest
of people engaged in sports and games in raising money for the fund.
Office accommodation was provided without charge by the chairman and council of the football
association. The committee raised £9,985,345.
Nearly £3 million was raised through organisations such as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC),
the Lawn Tennis Association, and Football Association. Horse racing, golf, rowing, bridge and
darts enthusiasts were also among the contributors, as well as whist drives and dances.
In September 1943 a cheque for £15,000 representing the proceeds of an international football
match between England and Wales at Wembley was presented to the fund and marked the first
million pounds raised by sport during the war.
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Fundraising during the Second World War
Sources:
>>The Red Cross and St John War Organisation 1939-1947, compiled by P.G.Cambray
& G.B.Briggs, London, 1949
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