February 26th 1960 was the day that a letter was published in the Guardian suggesting that women at home with young children might benefit from meeting up with lively minded women for more than just chat about babies and housework!
The National Housewives Register – later to become the National Women’s Register – very quickly took shape.
On Wednesday 26th February members celebrated our 60th Anniversary. All over the UK celebrations were held in regional venues big enough to accommodate large groups of ladies. Lunches were served and glasses were raised for the toast to our founder – Maureen Nicol. A nationwide live link allowed members to view an interview with Maureen while she reminisced about the early days. Maureen is still a member of the Kenilworth Group!
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 Mothers back in the 60s, 70s and 80s. But times have changed though with most of today’s Mums going back to work after having had their babies and now getting their mental stimulation at work.
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 was published in the G2 section of The Guardian. Added to that Natalie Punter, our National Organiser and Jo Thomson, one of our Trustees were interviewed by Jenni Murray on Woman’s Hour on Friday 28th February 2020!