The History of NWR 2009 Membership numbers remained steady, Thailand was the country for the Themed Evening and the theme for the year was the Industrial Revolution. The focus of the National Conference in Leeds was 'Leading the Way' and inspirational speakers included Vanessa Lawrence - first female Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, Ann Daniels - Polar Explorer and Liz Burnley the Chief Guide. The Conference culminated with a display by the Northern Theatre Ballet. The Mary Stott NWR Woman of the Year Award was presented to Liz Waite of the Twickenham and St Margaret's Group in Middlesex for the national recognition of her dedication and achievement of her personal goal as a committed fund raiser. The website continued to grow and generated an increasing number of enquiries. Eight new Groups formed. Trustees Gaynel Munn and Johanna Maidment retired after serving four years as Trustees. Irene Hughes, Pamela McKee and Kathleen Tanner were elected as new Trustees. 2008 Membership remained steady at around 7300. The National Conference took place in September at the University of Bath, and posed the question 'Is the Past our Future'. The Mary Stott Award was awarded to Rosemary Lavies of New Milton NWR who set herself the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. In February the themed evening was on Mexico and the theme for the year was 'Third World Women'. A 'members only' section is created on the website. In March the Membership Coordinator, Eilis Thorn, retired after working for NWR for almost nine years. Kathryn Buckman became the new Membership Coordinator in June. 2007 The annual National Conference - first and possibly only one in the summer, was held at Keele University. The theme was Midsummer Medley and it included a Murder Mystery event for Friday evening, written for NWR by local author Priscilla Masters. The Mary Stott Award was presented to Barbara Lang for participating in the Tall Ships programme. The themed evening was France - which gave rise to great deal of interesting responses to the survey of French likes and dislikes. It was NWR's year of Gardens and Gardening: many groups availed themselves of the chance to go out and about or discuss the effects of climate change. The results of the Programme Competition were both interesting and inspiring. The Telephone Treasure Trail highlighted the new website by adding a compulsory question. 2006 Manchester hosted the National Conference with the theme of Making a Difference. Mary Coslett of Horrabidge NWR won the Mary Stott Award for her voluntary work with pregnant women in Tibet. It was NWR's Travel Year and the themed evening was China. 2005 This was NWR's 45th (Sapphire) Anniversary. Groups were given a list of 45 blue themes and a 45 Pack of ideas and quizzes for meetings. Reading held the National Conference on Nothing to Declare but our Genius. The second presentation of the Mary Stott NWR Woman of the Year went to Margaret Lavelle, Area Organiser for the South West Region and member of the Kingsbridge and District group. The themed evening was The United States of America. 2004 Swansea held the National Conference on Women of the World. The first presentation of The Mary Stott Award for the NWR Woman of the Year was awarded to Ann Scarborough, MBE, of the Bradford-on-Avon group. The National Themed Evening was India. The Co-ordinators held NWR's first Themed Year: a Literary Year. 175 groups took part in a national debate on The Best Woman Writer of the Twentieth Century. 2003 York hosted the National Conference on Exploring Diversity. The NWR Archive was professionally catalogued and to be viewed on request at the Women's Library. The annual NWR Woman of the Year Mary Stott Award was instituted in memory of one of NWR's founders, the editor of the Guardian Women's page in the 1950s and 60s. 250 Groups took part in the first national Themed Evening on Italy and 150 groups joined in NWR's Great British Women debate. 2002 Mary Stott, NWR's first Honorary Life Member died aged 95. Guildford held the National Conference on Colours. The Norwich Employment Tribunal, on hearing ex-NWR Administrator Lesley Appel's claim for constructive dismissal, found in favour of NWR. Members from English and European groups met up in Luxembourg for a weekend Space to be EU. The New Neighbours project distributed NWR publicity to new homeowners in the Home Counties. 2001 Membership held steady around 7,800. The year of Area Meetings - 18 in all attended by the Co-ordinators. Target to start 20 New Groups. Enquiries averaged 100 per month up till present. Nottingham had second National Conference. Gill Vine and Jean Stirk resigned after ten years as Trustees. 5 Trustees, 3 new - Julie Baker, Karen Redner and Janet Reynolds, joined Vivienne Eardley and Judy Ross on The Board 2000 Ruby anniversary, many groups celebrated throughout the year. Millennium quiz in January involved over 300 UK groups and some overseas groups participated. Tea towel/wall hanging produced by Beverley Group from group's squares of 'What NWR meant to them'. 8 Consolidation days were held for groups to review new structure with Co-ordinators and Trustees. Article in The Guardian to commemorate our origins. Founder, Maureen Nicol, OBE, attended Durham Conference and cut celebratory Ruby cake. Nearly 1200 enquiries and increasing interest in NWR. First full colour magazine and Annual Report. Telephone Treasure Trail attracted 380 entries. 1999 Members voted to decide future of the running of NWR as insufficient volunteers came forward to maintain the National Group. Members voted for 2 paid staff (Co-ordinators). The Board of Trustees interviewed applicants. The National Group was dissolved at the AGM was held at the National Conference in Exeter on -Transition. Last National Organiser Mary Dodkins continued until two Co-ordinators were selected. In July Membership Co-ordinator Eilis Thorn and Marketing Co-ordinator Mary Dodkins were in post. Liz Williamson and Betty Jerman retired as Trustees. Vivienne Eardley and Beverly Purvis became new Trustees. 1998 Consultation Days - 7 were arranged nationally to discuss The Way Forward. 24% of groups attended. 3 final options were settled on and voting papers mailed to all members. The choice was between (a) winding down, (b) appointing a professional Executive Officer or (c) a board of 5 Trustee Directors and 2/3 National Co-ordinators, with larger honoraria and the buying-in of expertise. Option (c) was chosen by the 39% of members who returned their voting slips. Nominations were being sought for new Trustee Directors. National Conference in Chester, Other Worlds. 1997 Trustees' letter was sent to all members expressing their concern about the lack of volunteers to run the organisation and the declining membership. Working Party of five was set up to look at The Way Forward. National Group of five. NWR went on the Internet with a website set up by member, Jackie Harber. National Conference was in Edinburgh, To see ourselves as others see us. 1996 First Telephone Treasure Trail success was followed up with second and plans were to repeat annually due to great response from groups. National Conference in Reading, Winning Through. 1995 Founder Maureen Nicol was awarded OBE in Queen's Birthday honours for her 'services to women in founding NWR in 1960'. 35th Birthday celebrated. 231 groups took part in the 1st National Telephone Treasure Trail organised by Abbots Langley, thanks to Caroline Bloomer. National Conference was in Leicester, Power. 1994 Sponsorship allowed us to send the Annual Report to every member. Trustees and National Group meeting with Strategic Plan Adviser was followed by simpler 3 year plan to halt membership decline. 1993 Maureen Nicol retired as Trustee at the National Conference in Southampton and was given Honorary Membership. The Magazine - renamed 'The Register'- was mailed directly to members. The LO Handbook was completed and given to all Local Organisers. 1992 The National Group was restructured in phase 2 of regionalisation. Several Community Service Announcements were broadcast, resulting in hundreds of enquiries. 1991 NWR's Strategic Plan was published. The New Image was launched at the National Conference. Mary Stott retired as Trustee and was made the first Honorary Life Member. Jean Stirk, former National Group Chairman, and Gill Vine, former National Organiser, were elected Trustees. Regionalisation began. The first Annual Report was produced. There were approximately 900 groups. 1990 30th birthday. Widespread publicity brought many enquiries. Members decided that NWR should build on its original aims, update its image and investigate a regional structure. The National Office moved to Norwich. Lesley Moreland retired as Trustee. Subscription was £4.00 1989 Falling membership (17,600) lead to the appointment of management consultants to analyse NWR and identify possible future directions. 1988 Liz Williamson, former Treasurer, was appointed fifth Trustee. Community Service Announcements were made in several ITV regions. 1987 Following a postal ballot of all members, a resolution was passed at the AGM to change the name to National Women's Register. Subscription was £3.50. 1986 NHR became a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee. Strictly controlled advertising appeared in the Newsletter. The Research Bank and the subsidised workshop scheme were established. 1985 25th birthday. Widespread publicity lead to 2,500 enquiries and the formation of over 50 new groups. A record 540 members attended the Silver Jubilee National Conference in Southampton. Past members organised a celebratory luncheon at the House of Commons. 1984 Lesley Moreland, former National Organiser, was appointed fourth Trustee. The first full-time Office Administrator was employed. 1982 Office premises were acquired to cope with an ever-increasing workload. Membership reached 24,000. There were affiliated groups in 28 countries overseas. Subscription was now £2.00. 1981 21st birthday. The Lively-Minded Women, a history of the first 20 years of NHR by Betty Jerman, was published by Heinemann. The Register was computerised. A European conference was held in Brussels. 1980 Charitable Status was granted and three Trustees were appointed: Maureen Nicol (founder), Betty Jerman (journalist and author) and Mary Stott (past Women's Page editor, The Guardian). The 1,000th group was formed. Membership was 22,000. An International Conference was held in Buckinghamshire. Affiliation was introduced for Overseas groups. 1978 18th birthday. National and international publicity produced an overwhelming number of enquiries and both membership and the number of groups increased. 1977 The first overseas Newsletter, Register Worldwide, was produced and sent to groups in 13 countries. Annual subscription was £1.00. A postal ballot for National Group elections was introduced. 1976 The first National Group was elected at the Bristol Conference. The number of one-day local conferences increased dramatically. There were now 800 groups and 19,000 members. 1975 A special business meeting at Crewe discussed the results of the research, culminating in the basis of the present organisation. 1973 Research began into how other organisations dealt with policy making. 1971 The by now National Newsletter was the accepted forum for discussion of Register matters and included informative and controversial articles written by members. 1970 10th birthday. Membership rose from 10,000 to 15,000 as a result of widespread publicity. NHR's increasing size made it imperative that joint National Organisers were appointed and paid a small honorarium in recognition of the responsibility. A standard national subscription of 5/-(five shillings) was introduced. 1968 The first overseas groups were formed in Australia and Canada. Standardised publicity was used for the first time. 1967 300 members attended the first National Conference in Buxton. 1966 The organisation became known as the National Housewives' Register. 1965 The first printed Newsletter. Membership reaches 6,000. 1962 The Register was no longer an experiment, but income was uncertain and the next National Organiser, Brenda Prys-Jones, inherited a "bankrupt, disorganised success". July 1960 Groups began to form and were encouraged to make their own decisions about activities. Enthusiastic members helped answer letters and made introductions on a local or regional basis. Enquirers were asked to pay a registration fee to their area organiser. The first national Newsletter, a duplicated sheet, was produced, giving news of group activities, spread of membership and profiles of members. Some areas produced local newsletters. 2,000 members were asked for a subscription of 1/- (one shilling). Feb 1960 In response to Betty Jerman's article in The Guardian, Maureen Nicol wrote: "Perhaps housebound wives with liberal interests and a desire to remain individuals could form a national register so that whenever one moves one can contact like-minded friends?" She was overwhelmed by requests from women wanting to join "her" register and the Liberal-minded Housebound Wives' Register was born, and soon became the Housebound Wives' Register.

Maureen Nicol OBE at the ‘Step Back in Time’ event in October 2009 The Keele National Conference Our Sapphire celebration! National Group 1978 Maureen Nicol OBE in the sixties