WW2 Red Cross St. John Ambulance & National Savings Movement Lend-to-Defend (wartime savings badges) - two Home Front savings scheme badges (1940s)

Postage is extra.

Buy both badge together for only €12 + postage
OR
Buy separately: Penny-a-Week badge €6 + postage, Lend-to-Defend badge €9 + postage.
Postage costs the same whether both posted individually or together.

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PENNY-A-WEEK BADGE:
For sale is a WW2 participant's badge for the Red Cross / St. John Ambulance PENNY-A-WEEK savings scheme. This economy badge without enamels was awarded to members of the Penny-a-Week scheme and the same design of badge was also issued with enamels awarded to volunteers, collectors and local fund committee members.

The Penny-a-Week scheme was the main source of funding for the scheme and workers with regular employment could participate, having a penny deducted from their wages each week. Local volunteers would also arrange door-to-door collections as well as the organising national activities to support the scheme. By 1943, there was also the option of donating 2d (two pence) a week instead.

After war was declared in September 1939, it was decided to restructure the Red Cross and St John Ambulance into the Joint War Organisation (JWO) to ensure efficient and combined use of resources and avoid wasteful duplication, as had been done during WW1. They were wholly dependent on dedicated volunteers and public fundraising to carry out their work. The JWO depended on volunteers who worked to provide assistance to the armed medical corps, as supplementary hospital and nursing staff, distribution of medical supplies, assisted Rest Centres & staffed ambulance units as well as providing first aid & training. In addition to their mainstream duties, the JWO also saw to the welfare of prisoners-of-war by providing Prisoners’ Parcels to POW’s overseas.

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LEND-TO-DEFEND BADGE:
This Lend-to-Defend enamelled badge was awarded to long-term savers with the National Savings Movement and was issued from around 1939 to just after the war (c.1946). This badge show St. George defeating the dragon, a symbol of victory or the triumph of good over evil.

The National Savings Movement (NSM) was established in 1916 and was a British savings scheme run by the HM Treasury department through a network of Trustee Savings Banks and Post Office Savings Banks. The NSM allowed people to save small to larger sums of money which would be used by governments to fund budget deficits and wartime expenditure. The rates of interest given were low but backed by the security of government bonds for peace of mind. During the war, the NSM grew rapidly, peaking in 1943 with the issue of over £5 million worth of savings certificates but by October 1946 this figure had shrunk to around £105,000 The NSM was ran by civil servants but the bulk of staff across all the offices were volunteers. In July 1976, the government announced that all 580 civil servants who supported the otherwise voluntary movement would be withdrawn over two years as part of public spending cuts and the NSM closed in February 1978.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Savings_Movement

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1946/nov/19/national-savings-movement-expenses

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DESCRIPTION:
Size (Penny-a-Week badge): about 7/8" x 13/16" (23mm x 21mm).
Size (Lend to Defend badge): about 1 3/16" x 1 3/8" (30mm x 36mm).
Material(s): brass metal with 2 vitreous enamels
Finish: tin plated.
Fitting: pin & buttonhole.
Imprint: TOYE & CO LONDON on the Lend to Defend badge. No imprint on the Penny-a-Week badge.
Approximate age: c.1940 to c.1946

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CONDITION:
Both in very good condition. No damage. Pin in working order. Some wear to the tin-wash on the Penny-a-Week badge resulting in spots.
Please see photograph(s), these form part of the description.

POSTAGE:
* Postal costs are extra, additional to the Asking Price
* I always get a proof-of-posting certificate.
* I combine postal costs for multiple items when these are paid for and posted the same time.

RETURNS:
* Return accepted if the item(s) is returned in same condition it left me, then the full Agreed Asking Price will be refunded. Postal costs are not refundable.
* Buyer pays the return postal costs - unless agreed otherwise.

B.43