ABSTRACT

The outbreak of war and the evacuation of some 3,000 London children to Cambridge brought to the fore the whole question of the use of leisure, and the response was immediate. The darkening evenings under black-out conditions led to a considerable drop in numbers, especially where younger children were concerned. Arrangements were made for escorting the children to and from their homes, or times of meeting were altered. One of their members was appointed ‘Organizer of Occupations for Evacuees out of School Hours’ with the task of organizing help, linking up the various groups concerned, securing halls, and doing whatever was needed in the busy period between the reception of the children and their adjustment to their new life. On the whole in the pre-war years the Cambridge people do not seem to have shown much interest in the recreation of children.