A number of organisations were formed to try and bring relief to the those worst affected, and one of these bodies was The Winter Distress League. It aimed at creating worthwhile paid employment on a strictly business basis: people were to be paid the going rate, and there was to be no stigma of "charity". To create opportunities for people to earn money and develop marketable skills, it had to find sponsors and also raise significant funds via appeals and events. The Royal Family were supporters of its work. Besides supporting a wide-ranging programme of public works, the League tried to take positive steps to off-set the effects of malnourishment in children by sending them to "the country" for periods of up to three months. Burton Latimer was one such destination.

The League's supervisor in Burton Latimer was Annie Potter, whose interest in charitable work had begun during the First World War. She found billets in Burton Latimer for recovering wounded soldiers from distant countries in the British Empire like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

After the War, she continued her work, but with children rather than adults. The first children were brought to Burton in the early 1920s. Some came for a short stay, others remained for 10-12 weeks. Their educational needs were met by enrolling them in local schools, and the some record of this still exists in the Admission Book for the former St Mary's Infants School in Finedon Road. Entries in this book, coupled with the reports published by the League, show that the organisation was still active into the mid-1930s.

The reports give some indication of the extent of the suffering felt in London and other parts of the country, the great effort which some people made to try and counter it, and the gratitude felt by those who were helped.

Click on the images or text below to read the various reports:

1922-4 Reports	1925-6 Report	1932-3 Review	1934-5 Review	1935-6 Review

The sections in the reports mentioning Annie Potter and Burton Latimer have been highlighted