The sixties are remembered as a glamorous decade of hedonistic individualism - Carnaby Street, mini skirts and the music of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
But underneath the glamour there was also a growing awareness of the harder side of life - homelessness revealed in Cathy Come Home, or unwanted pregnancy in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
As a result, the 1960s also saw the setting up of very many new voluntary groups and charities. Now a new book The Unsung Sixties tells the stories behind this decade of social innovation.
Claire Hampson went to talk to some of the women behind these stories; Caroline Coon from Release, Helene Graham from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Jean Simkins from the Disablement Income Group.
Jenni is joined by Helene Curtis, joint author of The Unsung Sixties and Geraldine Peacock, Charity Commissioner, and former Chief Exectuive of Guide Dogs for the Blind about whether their desire to change the world has had a lasting impact on society today.
The Unsung Sixties: Memoirs of Social Innovation by Helene Curtis and Mimi Sanderson is published today by Whiting & Birch Ltd, ISBN 1861770448
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