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WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection

The WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection was formed in 1958, the organisation's twentieth anniversary, to gather together and keep safe records which were of long term historical importance.

Since then the Archive & Heritage Collection has been collecting material both from within the organisation and from our volunteers around the United Kingdom and overseas to tell the amazing story of over one million women and men who have given extraordinary service to their communities and helped shape British society.

The collection now includes approximately two million documents, nearly 15,000 photographs and thousands of unique items of uniform and objects.

In 2010 the WVS and WRVS narrative reports, which form a significant part of the WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection, were awarded UK Memory of the world status by the United Nations educational, cultural and scientific organisation UNESCO and are considered to be of outstanding importance and value to the UK.

You can find out more about the Narrative Reports by looking at our fact sheet, visiting the UK Memory of the World Register, or watch again as Jules Hyam interviews WRVS Archivist Matthew McMurray for the BBC.

Keep up to date with news and information about the WRVS Archive & Heritage Collection in our bi-annual Heritage Bulletin.  In the latest edition read about:

• how legacies are making our dreams of protecting and improving access to the Archive & Heritage Collection a reality
• the Flying Food Squad
• how we arrange new material
• our new schools resources.