Adult Education and Leisure News

Henry Morris

It is 100 years since Henry Morris became Chief Education Officer in Cambridgeshire.

In 1924 Henry wrote the now famous Memorandum which led to the founding of the Village Colleges. The movement seeded a change towards “community education” in many parts of Britain and abroad. This change was based on the belief that education should be a lifelong process. He called it “raising the school-leaving age to 90”. He was an outstanding man and one of the greatest figures in education of the twentieth century. Morris was keen to ensure that everyone, no matter how poor, had access to good education in a setting that was not just fit for purpose – it was also to be inspiring. He wanted to create inspirational purpose-designed spaces that would be available to the whole community during their waking hours. He proposed that inspirational all-in-one multi-purpose education and cultural centres should be built across the county, right at the heart of the communities they were to serve.

If you would like to know more about where Swavesey Village College fits into the picture (built in 1958) then please visit www.henrymorris.org or https://cambsvc.org.uk/

There is also a copy of David Rooney’s book (ex-Warden of Swavesey VC) in each of the house offices donated by the Henry Morris Memorial Trust. It is fantastic that the village colleges in Cambridgeshire still hold onto these values 100 years later.