ABSTRACT
Improvements in technique made it possible to consider freeing labour of some of its burden by shortening the working day; the growing self-consciousness of the workers, led them to demand free hours and amenities, especially since leisure was so marked a political issue, and leisure facilities had become an important political weapon. Until almost the middle of the last century the only organizations in the United Kingdom which catered for the leisure of the working class were the Sunday School and the beer houses. Provisions for spare-time activities were started gradually as it was recognized that if the workers “pass their leisure in habits which are weighing them down into pauperism,” their industrial efficiency was seriously threatened. Institutes of Leisure, Youth Community Centres on New Housing Estates and the Men’s Junior Institutes, represent a compromise between evening instruction and recreation.
