The Voluntary Action History Society (VAHS) was formed in 1991 to advance the historical study and understanding of voluntary action and of charitable and voluntary organisations. It was founded by a group of individuals working in both academia and the voluntary sector, including Colin Rochester and Justin Davis Smith, who felt that the history of voluntary action and charities was being forgotten or ignored.
Voluntary action was not seen as a subject its own right, often considered only as a minor part of social policy. Where it was studied historically it was as an insignificant aspect of social history. The founders believed that all too often studies undertaken were left to academics with little thought of the relevance to those active as researchers and practitioners in the voluntary sector. While some excellent histories of charities were available, they were rarely disseminated in the voluntary sector.
Since its inception the society has carried out a number of activities including running a series of seminars on the history of voluntary action, hosting conferences and workshops. VAHS became a registered charity in March 1995. VAHS has also engaged with particular issues affecting the historical study of voluntary action, including the problems facing the archiving of charity and volunteering history.
The Voluntary Action History Society was relaunched in November 2005 with a new Chair, Dr Pat Starkey and a new Secretary, Georgina Brewis. Between 2005 and 2008 the society ran a successful seminar series at a range of London venues including the LSE, the Foundling Museum, Dr Williams’s Library and CIVITAS. The Voluntary Action History Society organised a successful International Research Conference at the University of Liverpool in July 2008 and partnered with the Menzies Centre at King’s College London to hold a symposium on the legacy of William Beveridge’s Voluntary Action in November 2008.
In October 2008 the society’s seminar series found a permanent home as part of the Institute of Historical Research’s programme, where seminars are now held monthly. At the same time a new committee, the New Researchers, was established to organise special training and networking events workshops for postgraduate students and early career researchers. In 2009 this committee was awarded £1,830 from the Economic History Society for a series of one-day workshops to be held at universities across the UK and in May 2010 it won a second grant of £1,900 for a follow-up workshop series.
In October 2009 the Voluntary Action History seminar became the first at the IHR to make podcasts of presentations available. Since February 2010 Peter Grant has been the Chair of VAHS.
