| Administrative History | Allocations: 1920, 1924, 1945-1990. See later annual reports for any subsequent allocations.
It is likely that Save first made a grant to Italy in 1919, which was followed by a further grant made in 1921. In 1923 Save the Children (SCF) provided money to complete the children's sanatorium at Aspromonte in the south of Italy.
After the Second World War, SCF relief teams went to Italy to register refugees and distribute clothes and food in co-operation with UNRRA [United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration], leaving the country in November 1945.
In 1946, Winifred Harley conducted a survey in Italy at the request of UNRRA and recommended that SCF should be involved in setting up nurseries in the country. SCF started work near Lanciano in the Abruzzi region, establishing nursery schools, assisting in the training of nursery staff, and providing supplies. In 1949 SCF opened a nursery school and headquarters in Ortona; a 'baby hut' for undernourished babies was added in 1951 with funds from the Canadian SCF. In 1951 SCF started running nursery teacher courses to train local workers. Further nursery centres were opened including at Civitaluparella, Rocassicura, and Scandale. In 1959 a demonstration nursery was set up at Tricario, with Canadian and Australian help, another nursery centre was established in Genzano in 1961. In 1961 SCF started organising 'work camps' enabling young people from the UK to contribute to the charity's work in Italy.
By 1964, two thirds of SCF work was being paid for by the Italian authorities. Contributions were being made to a bridge project, a consumers' co-operative, a road project, and sanitary and sewage improvements. Following the Italian government's Education Act of 1968 all projects were handed over to the authorities in 1969 except the child sponsorship programme which continued until 1990.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s SCF carried out relief work in response to emergencies including floods, earthquakes, and the Longarone Dam Disaster in 1964. Child welfare centres were set up to clothe and feed children, then later converted into nursery schools. Following an earthquake in 1980, SCF supported the establishment of a nursery school at San Angelo Le Fratte, and sent money for schools and clinics in Brienza. |