A CENTURY ago this week, a group of people met at Caxton Hall, London and agreed that the Society for Cultural Relations between the Peoples of the British Commonwealth and the USSR (SCR) should be formed.

The purpose was, as the first stated object of the society explained, to collect and diffuse information in both countries on developments in Science, Education, Philosophy, Art, Literature, and Social and Economic Life.

The society was formed to fill a need. The year 1917 saw the first real victory of the working class with the success of the November Russian Revolution. This led to the formation of the first socialist state.

Those here in Britain involved in trying to achieve a more equitable society were frustrated by the lack of information available on the USSR’s innovations in the fields of education, public health, housing and other areas of interest. The SCR’s birth was the beginning of the opening of a two-way information exchange.

Among the SCR’s first supporters were EM Forster, HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, and JBS Haldane. The supporters represented many different causes, including co-operation, pacifism, women’s suffrage, public medicine and education.

The first chair was the Co-operator and supporter of women’s suffrage Margaret Llewelyn Davies; the first vice-chair was the Quaker Ruth Fry; the treasurer was Leonard Woolf. There were a number of Soviet members including the honorary secretary, the enigmatic Catherine Rabinovitch. One of the members of the first EC, and a supporter until his death, was Andrew Rothstein.

The inception of the SCR occurred just after the first Labour government was elected, and, among one of its early acts, officially recognised the USSR.

The society’s first years were not easy. Three years after our foundation, the offices of Arcos — the main Soviet trading entity based in London — were raided by the police on evidence from the security services that it was involved in espionage.

This led to the severance of diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries, as well as the expulsion of the majority of the SCR’s Soviet members. This affected its work and finances, but it was agreed the society should continue.

Throughout its 100 years, the SCR has faced many challenges, both financial and political. There was a massive increase in interest and support during the second world war as the two countries worked together to defeat fascism, and the British population desired information on its new ally.

The regional branches and specialist sections increased. The members of the sections included several well-known names within their fields, but it was always the ordinary members that kept the society going.

This success was soon diminished by the beginning of the cold war and the interference of the security services. Reading the security files of various prominent SCR members shows the level of surveillance, and indeed interference.

Nonetheless, the SCR continued to bring musicians, theatre workers, pedagogues, architects and many others to Britain to perform and exchange ideas. We were also responsible for sending British workers in those fields to the USSR as our vision has always been for two-way exchanges.

The 1960s and ’70s saw a decline in membership although the SCR increased its Russian language courses and continued the publication of the Anglo-Soviet Journal. The 1980s at the time of the Gorbachev period of glasnost and perestroika saw an increase in interest again.

This euphoria was not to last as the USSR dissolved in 1991. Unlike many of its fellow organisations in other countries, the SCR decided to continue and adapt to the changed circumstances. As then-chair of the society, Bill Bowring asked, “With what would we now have relations?”

He went on to say: “We recognised that our interests (and our magnificent library) focus primarily on Russian language and culture. Nevertheless, our history is linked with that of the former USSR; and we maintain relations with many of its republics. So our new name reflects our interests: Russian and Soviet studies.” The new name agreed on May 23 1992 was the Society for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies (SCRSS).

As the SCRSS we have not just survived but have managed some outstanding projects. We have redeveloped our building at 320 Brixton Road and rearranged our library, a library that illuminates a period of history which is important to study and reflect upon.

We have set up an online catalogue which now holds 6,000, and growing, records of our unique holdings. We were the primary instigators in the setting up of the Soviet War Memorial in London that commemorates the 27 million Soviet citizens, both military and civilian, who died during the second world war.

We have done all of this with the assistance of our members and volunteers and without them, we would not have survived the first 10 years of our existence, let alone the 100 years we celebrate now.

Our remit has always been the dissemination of information on the USSR, the exchange of ideas and culture between the two countries and then with all of the republics of the former USSR.

The words on an SCR flyer of the 1930s — “Close cultural relations: the strongest bulwark against war, the constructive basis for peace” remain as important a statement now as they were then. Let us work towards the fulfilment of this. And for the next 100 years of the society.

The history of the society, An Unpopular Cause, specially written for the centenary, is now available. And a related exhibition will run at the society’s premises through the autumn. The SCRSS is run solely by volunteers and opening times are therefore reliant on this. Please visit our website — scrss.org.uk — for further information on us, our events and library, and on how to support us and become a member.