The UK Committee for Freedom in Mozambique was formed in 1968 at the request of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), which had launched an armed national liberation struggle against Portuguese colonial rule in 1964. It expanded a year later to cover Angola and Guine-Bissau, where armed struggle was also under way, renaming itself as the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guine (CFMAG).

CFMAG operated as a campaigning pressure group, aiming to build broad based political support for FRELIMO, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the African Independence Party of Guine-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC). It worked with all political parties, the labour and student movements, churches, NGOs and many others. It had close relations with the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and encouraged a regional perspective for the future of Southern Africa. It organised visits by liberation movement representatives and various specific political and material aid campaigns, culminating in the End the Alliance Campaign of 1972/3.

Following the 25 April coup in Portugal in 1974 and the subsequent negotiations between the new Portuguese government and the liberation movements, the right of the colonies to full and immediate independence was acknowledged. CFMAG organised a victory party at St Pancras Town Hall on 25 June 1975, Mozambique's Independence Day, and closed down, its objectives achieved.

During the following phase the Mozambique, Angola & Guine Information Centre (MAGIC) was established with support from the independent governments to carry out educational and information work. Political solidarity work continued through first the Angola Solidarity Committeee and then the Mozambique-Angola Committee, with particular emphasis on supporting MPLA during its second war of liberation against the South African army.

The Committee on South African War Resistance (COSAWR) was founded in 1978. It also worked to raise the issue of militarism in South Africa and conducted research into the South African military structure and resistance. Its magazine 'Resister' became the leading magazine on South Africa's militarization.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and co-operation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively.

Based in London, UK, the Secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values.

The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.

Community Business Scotland (CBS) was founded in April 1981 and inaugurated on 10 July 1981 as a successor to the Scottish Community Enterprise Forum (SCEF). The SCEF Steering Group wanted to set up a new organisation to promote the interests of and support the growing community business movement in Scotland. CBS was incorporated in September 1987 to become Community Business Scotland Ltd and in August 1999 changed its name to Community Business Scotland Network Ltd (CBS Network Ltd). By that time it was operating as a national network for community enterprise, based in Scotland, but with members from all over the UK and abroad. CBSN closed in 2015.

CBS was a registered company, number SC106472. From 1981 – January 1984 it operated from the Scottish Council of Social Services (SCSS office) at 266 Clyde Street, Glasgow. On 1 Feb 1984 it moved to an office at 39 Vicar Street, Falkirk. From September 1986 to December 2002 it operated from Unit 34&45, West Calder Workspace, Society Place, West Calder EH55 8EA. CBSN then moved to Edinburgh and was based in the following premises: Princes House, 5 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RG (December 2002-May 2005); 45/47 Albany Street, Edinburgh EH1 3QY (May 2005-Dec 2007); The Melting Pot, Thorn House, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR (Dec 2007-2013).

CBS had six main objectives: to encourage and promote the formation of new community businesses; to offer support for community businesses to share ideas, experience skills and knowledge; to offer and arrange access to training opportunities for community businesses, to represent the interests of community enterprise with governing bodies, financial institutions, and other public agencies at local, national and European level; to promote the concept of community business to the public, media and community organisations; to seek financial resources and establish channels for the financing of community business.

Anyone could become a member on payment of a subscription and there were five categories of membership: corporate, provisional corporate, advisory agency, individual and associate. A Board of Management was elected by the members. The Board met every 2 months and office bearers, elected by the Board, met regularly to carry out the Board decisions. Office bearers included a Convenor, Vice Convenor, Treasurer and Secretary. Convenors were as follows: George Burt (1981-1984); Willy Roe (1984-1985); Grahame Robertson (1985-1986); John Pearce (1986-1989), Glen Buchanan (1989-1991); George Hood (1991-1994); Mike Walker (1994-1997); Alf Hannay (1997-2000). Other office bearers included John Anderson, Richard Bluer, Kay Caldwell, Andy Cleland, Alan Tuffs, and Felix Mulholland. After its incorporation in September 1987 an Annual General Meeting was held each autumn, during which a Board of Directors was elected. Funding for CBS was raised from grants, publication sales, donations, consultancy fees and membership subscriptions.

In 1981 CBS drew up comprehensive proposals for financing community business in central Scotland, drawing attention to the needs of community businesses to a wide range of bodies. They continued to lobby organisations in Britain and Europe for policy and funding changes to support development of social enterprise. CBS worked with 8 regional councils to establish independent development units to support community business and enterprise across Scotland including Community Business Central Ltd (1983) and Strathclyde Community Business Ltd (1984). At the time of its incorporation in 1987, CBS set up a sister company, Community Economic Development Ltd (CED), to provide a specialist consultancy service in enterprise development and employment creation. In 1989 CBS launched a subsidiary company, the Scottish Community Enterprise Investment Fund plc (SCEIF). Members of the public, commercial and other organisations were invited to purchase shares and the funds raised were lent to community enterprises via an appraisal process. In 1989 CBS set up a Legal Structures Working Party to revise the existing (outdated) model rules, examine charitable status and work towards the creation of the ‘Community Benefit Corporation’. In the 1990s CBS researched and developed methods in Social Accounting and Audit, working with partners across Europe. From 2003-2005 CBS managed the Bridge to the Social Economy project, which initiated the establishing of Social Enterprise Scotland.

CBS/CBSN produced a quarterly journal Community Business News (CB News), first published in December 1981. By 1984 almost 2000 copies were distributed across Britain with a small readership from abroad. It was succeeded by New Sector in May 1992 as a co-publication with Community Enterprise UK (CE-UK) and the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM). It ceased publication in July 2009. CBS/CBSN held an annual convention where members and people active in the community business movement could to meet and discuss the issues through keynote presentations, seminars, talks and workshops. The first annual convention was held in October 1981.

CBS/CBSN also carried out international work. In September 1988 John Pearce attended the Commonwealth Conference on Local Economic development in Goa, India. The outcome of the conference was to establish a Commonwealth forum for exchange of experience and promote activity in the area of social and economic development at local level. In 1990 COMMACT (Commonwealth Association for Local Action and Economic Development) was established. John Pearce was the UK representative and established COMMACT UK. From 1996 CBSN supported a partner organisation in Kerala, The HiLDA Trust, to develop a community enterprise and micro-credit programme for disadvantaged groups in the Wayanad district. HiLDA’s director, Lukose Jacob, had been the COMMACT bursar hosted in the UK in 1996. In 1998 CBS received a National Lottery Charities Board international grant to fund a 3 year programme to support the Akshaya Programme. The National Lottery Charities Board also provided international grant funding for CBSN to work in partnership with the Bangalore based Rehabilitation, Education and Development (READ) projects in rural Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India.

CBSN withdrew from frontline support, of providing information, advice and member services, for the social enterprise community in 2005. The Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition (SSEC) had become the main vehicle for promotion of social enterprise in Scotland and there had been a growth of other social enterprise support agencies, all members of SSEC. In its new form CBSN continued to support the SSEC; CBSN International; CBSN hosted projects, such as the Social Audit Network (SAN) and COMMACT UK; and carried out consultancy work through its sister company, CBSN Services Ltd. CBSN closed in 2015.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was launched in December 1985 after four years of unity talks between unions opposed to apartheid and committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. At the launch we represented less than half a million workers organised in 33 unions.

Consolidated Gold Fields was a British gold-mining company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Hanson plc in 1988.

Consolidated Gold Fields played a key role in ending apartheid in South Africa; Michael Young, the company's public affairs director embarked on the controversial course of initiating secret discussions between the South African government and the ANC at Mells Park House in the company's estate in Somerset. This ultimately resulted in the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the handover of power to majority rule: the events are described in book The Fall of Apartheid by Robert Harvey and the 2009 television film "Endgame".

F W de Klerk was born in Johannesburg on 18 March 1936. F W de Klerk grew up in a political family, with both his father and grandfather serving high office. His father, Jan de Klerk, was a Cabinet Minister and the President of the South African Senate. In this political environment he learned the essential importance of timing. His brother is Dr Willem (Wimpie) de Klerk, a political analyst and one of the founders of the Democratic Party.

After finishing school in Krugersdorp, F.W. de Klerk graduated in 1958 from Potchefstroom University with BA and Ll.B degrees (the latter cum laude). At the same time he was awarded the Abe Bailey scholarship (an all-expenses paid educational tour to the United Kingdom). In 1969 he married Marike Willemse, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

From 1961-1972 de Klerk practiced as an attorney in Vereeniging. During this time, he played an active part in Nationalist Party politics and in local educational affairs. He was offered the chair of Administrative Law at Potchefstroom University, but declined the position when he was elected Member of Parliament for Vereeniging in November 1972.

In 1975 he became information officer of the Transvaal National Party. He held several ministerial positions in the Cabinet of President P.W. Botha, including Minister of Post and Telecommunications and Sport and Recreation (1978-1979); Mines, Energy and Environmental Planning (1979-1980); Mineral and Energy Affairs (1980-1982); Internal Affairs (1982-1985); and National Education and Planning (1984-1989). In 1982 he became the Transvaal leader of the National Party after Dr Andries Treurnicht quit the party. In 1985 he was appointed chairman of the Ministers’ Council in the House of Assembly and in 1986 he became the House’s leader. When P.W. Botha resigned as leader of the National Party in February 1989, he was succeeded by de Klerk. In September he was elected the new State President. He soon announced his policy of reform: he hoped to create a suitable climate for negotiations which would end apartheid and bring about a new Constitutional dispensation for South Africa, based on the principle of one person, one vote.

In December 1989, de Klerk met with the imprisoned leader of the African National Congress (ANC), Nelson Mandela. On 2 February 1990, de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). On 11 February Mandela was released. Negotiations with Mandela and other party leaders were held for the peaceful end of apartheid and transition to democratic rule. In 1993, De Klerk and Mandela were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts at reform in South Africa.

After 1994. After the 1994 elections, De Klerk was appointed the Second Vice President in President Mandela’s cabinet. In 1996 and other National Party members withdrew from their cabinet posts in order to establish the National Party as an effective opposition to the ANC. In 1997 De Klerk retired from politics.

The EcuNews Bulletin provided bulletins on national and international church news during the 1970s.

Published weekly under auspices: World Council of Churches; World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations; World Young Women's Christian Association; World Student Christian Federation; World Council of Christian Education.

The aim of the EPS was to keep its readers informed of trends of thought and opinion in and about the churches and Christian movements.

Fred Edwards was born on April 9th 1931, the only child of Reginald and Jessie Edwards. Raised in Norris Green Council Estate in Liverpool, he was educated at St Edwards College. After spending 10 years with the Royal and merchant navies, he became a probation officer in Liverpool in 1960. Taking unpaid leave in this time he gained a post graduate diploma in Social Studies at Glasgow University.
Edwards played a significant role in Scottish social work in the 1970s. In 1974 he was appointed Head of Social of Social work in Grampian, before moving to the same role in the Strathclyde region two years later. Viewing his department as a potential instrument in social justice, he was scathing on matters such a Strathclyde Children’s’ Homes, characterising them as ‘an industrial process.’
During the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, Edwards authorised loans of £191,000 to unmarried miners. This was subsequently deemed to be illegal and Edwards was held personally accountable for the sum until the Government relented in the face of a public outcry.
In 1986, he was appointed visiting Professor of Social Policy at Glasgow University, and in 1992 was named a lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. He retired in 1993, embarking on a ‘portfolio career’ by becoming a full time voluntary worker - focussing in the main on matters relating to the environment, social justice and religion. In 2002, along with his 2nd wife Mary, he established a water purification and female literacy project in Cambodia.
A devout Christian and active member of the Church of Scotland, he depicted his faith as one of ‘public orthodoxy, private heresy,’ noting that as he aged, his belief became more minimalist, yet more profound. After developing myeloma in 2005, he died three years later on October 18th 2008 at the age of 77.

Ekwueme was a graduate of the University of Washington (1955-57) who became the first elected Vice-President of Nigeria, serving in this role throughout the early 1980s. He is considered one of Nigeria's leading statesmen.

He accepted the Freedom of the City of Glasgow on behalf of Mandela on 4th August 1981.

End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) campaigned for the end to apartheid through the imposition of effective financial sanctions. It was established in 1974 by the Reverend David Haslam to campaign initially against loans by Midland Bank, together with other European banks, to the South African government through the European American Banking Corporation. It subsequently broadened its activities to campaign through consumer and shareholder action, parliamentary lobbying and other activities against all foreign, and particularly British, assistance to South Africa and for the implementation of the United Nations General Assembly resolution to end all new investment in and financial loans to South Africa. ELTSA carried out research into British banks and companies, produced information and campaigning documents and pioneered the techniques of pressure group shareholder action. A major element of its banks campaign was the boycott of Barclays Bank. In addition to the banking and disinvestment campaigns ELTSA was involved in the campaign to isolate South African gold through the World Gold Commission and through Embargo it supported the oil embargo of South Africa, with a particular focus during the late 1980s on the boycott of Shell.

In 1994 ELTSA was transformed into the Southern Africa Economic Research Unit (SAERU) to address the economic legacies of apartheid and encourage financial assistance to the region.

Dr Farid Esack has an international reputation as a Muslim scholar, speaker and human rights activist. He has lectured widely on religion and Islamic studies and also served as a Commissioner for Gender Equality with Nelson Mandela's government. He has authored numerous Islamic books and is currently the Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at Harvard Divinity School.

Brian Filling held several concurrent roles within the Scottish Committee for the Anti-Apartheid Movement, including: Scottish Committee Chair, Glasgow Group Committee Chair and Scottish Committee for Local Authority Action Against Apartheid Secretary.

The Friendship Associations have had aim to reunite their members here in the UK with their loved ones in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

They are a specialists in travel to and within South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, having made the travel arrangements for over half a million people since our inception in 1968.

They are the largest reunion organisation in the world.

Isobel Scott Gibson was born in Glasgow in 1897, the daughter of George A Gibson, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow. Her father was involved with the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science as a Governor from session 1911/12 until his resignation in December 1925. He was also involved with the Board at Park School in Glasgow, joining in May 1915 and rising to Chairman of the Board of this prestigious girl's school in August 1917. Isobel Gibson also went on to become a member of the Board at Park School and a Director of the School Company.

Isobel Gibson was educated at the Park School, Glasgow, and then studied for a teaching diploma at the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science. In 1917 she left the College to work in the kitchens of the Erskine Hospital for limbless soldiers. She returned to the College 2 years later to complete her teacher training. In 1920 she took a one year course at the King's College of Household and Social Science in London. She returned to Glasgow in 1921 to teach at Park School. In 1927, at the age of 30 years, she entered the University of Glasgow to study for a BSc in Applied Science, specialising in chemistry and physiology.

After graduating in 1930, Isobel Gibson went to work in Edinburgh as a Superintendent of Domestic Subjects with the Education Authority. Promotion followed in 1937 to the general staff of the Scottish Education Department's Inspectorate and in 1944 she was again promoted to the rank of His Majesty's Inspectorate. In January 1947 she took up her new position of Principal at the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science. In June 1951 she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her work.

During her career she helped the College recover from the war and struggle through the period of scarcity and rationing. She encouraged the academic developments of the College and put much work into the establishment of a proper library at Park Drive. She also played an important role within the International Federation of Home Economics, being elected as its president in 1959. She was also a president of the Glasgow branch of the British Federation of University Women. She instigated the new student residences at Dorchester Avenue that were formally opened by the Queen in 1968. The residences were named Gibson Hall in recognition of her vital role.

After her retirement at the end of 1962, Isobel Gibson moved to Edinburgh to live. In May 1993, she died in a nursing home, aged 96 years.

Isabella Scott Glaister (known as Ella) was born in Glasgow in 1879. She was the eldest daughter of Professor John Glaister, Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine and Public Health at the University of Glasgow.
She took up the post of Superintendent and Office Secretary (later changed to Principal) of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science in March 1908. The College had just been formed from the amalgamation of the Glasgow School of Cookery and West End School of Cookery. Ella Glaister had the difficult task of managing the merger at staff level and had to oversee the four College sites dispersed across Glasgow. During her time at the College she founded the “Glasgow Cookery Book”, originally a text book on cookery which was updated over the years by staff and eventually went into public circulation. The first edition was printed in 1910. She also attended meetings of the National Union for the Technical Education of Women in Domestic Subjects and of the Association of Superintendents of Recognised Training Schools in Domestic Subjects.
Ella Glaister resigned on 9 Sep 1910 to take up the post of Scotch Education Department Inspectress of Domestic Subjects. On 24 June 1919 in Melbourne, she married Professor Harold A Woodruff and her wedding cake was presented by the College. He was a professor of veterinary pathology and director of the veterinary institute at the University of Melbourne, a widower with two small sons. In Australia she continued her pioneering work in the field of domestic science education. She was a founder of the Australian Invergowrie Homecraft Hostel and was its chief examiner from 1928 to 1949. She was also a founder and councillor of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy.
She died in Melbourne on 3 March 1954.

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) started collecting archives and special collections not long after its inauguration in April 1993. This new activity came under the management of the University Library where it has remained. From 1993 to 2010 it was managed by the Collection Manager. The collections grew and Archives became part of Research Collections, a cross domain team which also included Special Collections, Heatherbank Museum of Social Work and the Centre for Political Song. In time this structure changed and all the resources from these four sections were brought together as Archives and Special Collections and fell under the management of the University Archivist from April 2010.

The physical location of the resources moved over the years as part of the Library’s expansion on GCU’s Glasgow campus. A new Archive Centre was built in the summer of 2016 and marked an important milestone in the development of the service. The Archive Centre is housed in the Sir Alex Ferguson Library were it displays a collection of Sir Alex Ferguson’s personal memorabilia.

The main purpose of the Centre is to select, preserve and make available the archives and special collections of the University to the highest standards. Central to this are GCU’s institutional records worthy of permanent preservation which give evidence about the functions, policies and decisions of the University and ensure its historical continuity. Other deposited archives and special collections enhance the research and curricula needs of the University and contribute to an understanding of local and national heritage. The service is free of charge and open to all.

The institutional records of the University’s predecessor bodies, and a special book collection from the Queen’s College, Glasgow were its first inherited resources. The University collects donated resources as part of its Mission and Collecting Policy and its subject strengths include Scottish left wing politics, trades unions, campaign and pressure groups; Scottish social work, social policy and child welfare; Scottish public health; Scottish social enterprise; Scottish creative arts; and the University and its parent institutions' contribution to the development of Scottish higher education from the late 19th century onwards (dating back to 1875 and the formation of the Glasgow School of Cookery). There is an overriding theme of Scottish social history and social justice. This sits well with the mission of Glasgow Caledonian University as the University for the Common Good, providing resources to enhance the learning, teaching and research experience within the broad social justice arena. The Centre is also active in both community and cultural engagement.