Abstract
The First World War re-energized the Edwardian voluntary spirit and placed new demands on post-war voluntary action. The discourse of post-war social reconstruction was not a sterile intellectual debate but an analysis of need and a call to action. In keeping with the new interest in social reconstruction, the focus of voluntary service, according to James Heighton, President of the National Association of Guilds of Help, had to change from personal case-work to civic engagement, community well-being and greater co-ordination. In some fields of social policy, notably housing and health, state intervention was forthcoming.