February 26th 1960 was the day that a letter was published in the Guardian suggesting that women at home with young children might beneifit from meeting up with lively minded women for more than just chat about babies and housework! The National Housewives Register was born – later to become the National Women’s Register. On Wednesday members from all over the UK celebrated our 60th year of existence!
In the Central Region 175 ladies gathered at The Burlington Hotel in Birmingham for a delicious lunch followed by a live link with the other celebrations including an interview with Maureen Nicol, our Founder. who is still a member of the Kenilworth Group! We then had a very entertaining and amusing speaker, Ginny Davis, who talked about her change of direction in her 50s when she gave up her work as a Barrister to become a stand up comedienne!
As always, when you get NWR ladies together, the camaraderie is evident and lots of ladies were catching up with people they had seen in other years at the National Conferences as well as getting to know new ladies and finding out about their groups.
NWR was a lifeline for young Mums in the 60s, 70s and 80s – times have changed now though with most going back to work after babies and getting their mental stimulation there. However the women who have had demanding careers and are now retiring, the ladies with empty nest syndrome or the Grandmas who have moved house to be near family can all benefit from becoming an NWR member !
Our 60th Anniversary has generated a lot of interest with letters and an article in The Guardian and Natalie Punter, our National Organiser and Jo Thomson, one of our Trustees being interviewed by Jenni Murray on Women’s Hour last week!
