From the archives: Calling all countrywomen: their gifts to the forces
[By a woman journalist] Scotswomen in every district in Scotland were represented at yesterday’s ceremony at the City Chambers, Edinburgh, when Mrs Gooch, chairman of the Central Council of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institutes, handed over gifts on their behalf to the Forces.
It was by permission of the Lord Provost that what Bailie Douglas described as an historic scene took place there, and we could not but be impressed when Mrs Gooch said the gifts came from a body comprising over 50,000 members, stretching from the Border country to Orkney and Shetland. An S.W.R.I. member, Mrs Bell, from the North of Scotland, had suggested a plan to raise enough money to give an ambulance for the use of the Scottish Forces. The fund soon grew to such dimensions that it was evident more personal gifts could also be given to the three fighting Services.