I
I WAS delighted to read Ann Donald's article (May 11) about Voluntary Service Overseas and to hear that Alec Dickson's widow was still active. Alec Dickson, who initiated VSO, was a truly remarkable man. When he left VSO in 1961 when it was being officially funded, he then set up Community Service Volunteers. I was privileged to meet him then at a memorable meeting in the Central Hotel, Glasgow.
He was launching his new concept from scratch, in front of a hard-bitten bunch of industrialists, but his drive and enthusiasm so affected them that he got immediate and positive responses. I (not a hard-bitten industrialist) found myself volunteering to find a place for a young student in a List D School. Such was Alec Dickson's no-nonsense approach that the placement was set up the next day!
David Macpherson,
51 Crosswell Street, Glasgow.
May 13.
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