Geraldine Aves

Dame Geraldine Maitland Aves, DBE (22 August 1898 – 23 June 1986) was a British civil servant, United Nations advisor on welfare, and social reformer.

Early life Aves was born on 22 August 1898 in Hertfordshire to social reformer Harry Ernest Aves and Eva Mary Aves (born Maitland). Her mother was a daughter of suffragist and educationalist Emma Maitland. She was educated at Frognal School and then Newnham College, Cambridge, where she graduated with third-class honours in economics. During her time at university, she became president of the Women's University Settlement, which worked to promote the welfare of women and children in deprived areas of London.

Social work In 1924, Aves became a school care organiser for London County Council, starting as an assistant care organiser. Care organisers were usually expected to hold a diploma in a social science, but Theodora Morton accepted her economics degree as a substitute. She was promoted to Principal Assistant Organiser in 1930. She became permanent Chief Welfare Officer in the Ministry of Health in 1946, a role she had held on secondment during the Second World War, from 1941. She worked on secondment for brief periods at both the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, as chief child care consultant in Europe, and the Home Office at the start of this role. Her 1969 report on the role of volunteers in social service, The Voluntary Worker in the Social Services, led to the establishment of the Volunteer Centre. It encouraged an increase in the number of volunteers involved in health and social services, a proposal which was opposed by trade unions.

Personal life Aves lived in Highgate for most of her life. She was a member of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, and enjoyed birdwatching. She was baptised at the age of thirty-four, and went on to serve on the Diocese of London's Board for Social Responsibility from 1977.

Honours Aves was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1946 New Year Honours for her contribution to wartime social services, before being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1963 New Year Honours on her retirement from the Civil Service. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours.