Records of York Young People's Fellowship of the Society of Friends

Papers, 1953-1975 (1 bundle) [G 10.8]

The York Young People's Fellowship was founded in 1942, during wartime conditions, as a means of making the Meeting House premises more accessible to the local community, and particularly to increase its use for youth work. The Fellowship was run by young Friends, notably Michael Graveson, and its membership drawn from pupils at local elementary and secondary schools. By 1945, it had 230 members, with meetings attracting attendances of over 80. The main activities provided were recreational, including various sports and discussion groups. It was a pioneering youth club in its early days, bringing together children from different social backgrounds. Michael Graveson continued to run the Fellowship until 1972, although the numbers of other Friends involved were few. It moved to a new centre in Falsgrave Crescent in 1968. In the mid 1980s, the club began to attract an increasing number of young travellers. The Fellowship was wound up as a youth club in 1995 and its work continued by the York Young Travellers' Project and the York Travellers' Trust.

The records are numbered and arranged according to the system used when they were in Clifford Street Meeting House

The conditions of deposit include a clause requiring written prior permission from a Friend Custodian for access to consult current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old

The collection of archives of the Society of Friends formerly held at the Friends Meeting House in Clifford Street, York

In English

Contents listed in Handlist 75, "Inventory of the records of Yorkshire General Meeting and York and Thirsk Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends formerly preserved at the Friends' Meeting House, Clifford Street, York" (1986)

As with access, the photocopying of current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old requires the permission of a Friend Custodian

Related material in Leeds University Library: Records of York Preparative Meeting and York Young Friends

D. Rubinstein and O. O'Toole, Faithful to ourselves and the outside world: York Quakers in the 20th century (Sessions, 2001), pp. 94, 138, 150, 183-184

The records are deposited and remain the property of the Society of Friends