Frances stayed in a YWCA hostel in Glasgow during the 1950s where she made lifelong friends.

Frances Addis, story shared April 2025

I had the pleasure of being a resident at the Victory Club . I came to Glasgow from Galloway area to work at the Mitchell Library in the Glasgow Libraries department on 30th October 1955. At that time the warden was a Miss Mollie Johnstone I was allocated a small cubicle with plywood walls containing a bed and chest of drawers. I was joined a week later by my school friend (also from Galloway) Helen Irving who was going to do teacher training at Jordan hill. Helen also had a cubicle We settled in well to life in the Hostel.

The Victory Club was not just a hostel for girls it was also the base of the YWCA Scotland and the office was run by a Miss A’ Hara (a member of Adelaide Place Baptist church), under her was a Miss Woods (a member of Queens Park Baptist Church) and a Miss Catherine Mclintock. Her mother worked in the kitchen. The cafe/dinning room was open to the public at lunch time and also in the evenings, groups seemed to hold meetings in rooms down stairs.

Helen and I became long lasting friends of the Mclintocks. Catherine died 2 years ago, she was a Church of Scotland Deaconess and finished her career in Shetland. In January another Christian girl came to live at the Victory Club. Joan McInnes from Ballan, Isle of Lewis, she too was heading for Jordanhill. Our friendship lasted until she passed away last year. Miss Johnstone moved away to work with the Mission to Military Garrisons in Cyprus and a new lady took over, she was the widow of a minister

Over the next year or so things changed and we no longer got an evening meal and costs so we had to rethink. Around the summer of 1957 Helen and I decided we would look for a hostel with full board. We were fortunate to get places in the YWCA of Scotland’s hostel across the road in Somerset Place. We got a curtained off section of a large room which had places for seven girls. Our warden at first was a Miss Saltinstall. She left after a few months due to ill health and I cannot remember the name of the new warden. Helen left in June 1958 as she finished at Jordahill, I stayed on until November/ December 1958. Our friend Joan moved from the Victory Club at the same time as us but she went to stay at a YWCA of Great Britain in the Park Circus area. We, Frances, Helen, Joan and Catherine have remained close friends (lifelong friends) thanks to our teenage start together in 1955 in the YWCA of Scotland’s Girls hostels.

Explore more stories