I am sorry to say that we will not be able to attend the civic reception to celebrate the 40th anniversary of VSB. We will be sorry to miss it as Kathleen and myself were at VSB in the early years, when Mrs Peskett - our founder, if I am not mistaken - was keeping a watchful eye on things. I was her 'field officer' after Clem McCartney. Clem and I were both, like yourself, graduates of QUB law faculty. As I am sure you can imagine, things were very different in those days. To give you one example, an american volunteer, who had signed up for playscheme work in the summer of 1971, arrived from the airport, and asked us if we could look after her gun for her, while she was in Belfast. She had carried in her hand luggage on the flight from New York. We put it in the safe for her until she was ready to return home to the states six weeks later. I remember the day we got our first transport – a scooter - what luxury ! I also recall the arrival of Sidney Stuart who was to put the organisation on a firm financial footing for the first time. At one time, certain areas of the city were barricaded off. We were issued with VSB identity cards in case we were ever detained. Dennis Barrett, chairman of the Belfast Council of Social Welfare, VSBs parent body, was very well spoken and a genuine 'chap' He was also the only person not carrying an identity card. When stopped at an army road block in the VSB van he came under suspicion. However, he produced his MCC membership card and asked if that would be O K. Once the captain saw it he told the sergeant 'I'm sure this chap will be alright.' One person who appeared on the scene in the early seventies was Sean Armstrong, who worked alongside us, providing holidays for children across the sectarian divide. When Sean was shot dead in his flat, many of us concluded that he paid with his life for promoting reconciliation. Kathleen and I met at VSB, so I suppose we count as a genuine VSB romance! We have great memories of those times, and wish the organisation every success in the future. I hope you will have the opportunity to give our best wishes to those from the seventies generation of VSB people who are at the city hall. Greg Quiery. Regards, greg quiery

Grey Quiery