This essay discusses the activities of those in North-West England who, during the Second World War, were unwilling to participate in military action, whether for religious and moral or for political reasons. Many overcame their individualism in order to form a variety of groupings, partly for self-protection but mainly in order to demonstrate their willingness and capacity to undertake social tasks they considered beneficial. Humanitarian activities, for instance, in relation to victims of bombing led to a more general interest in helping disadvantaged families. This in turn led up to the formation of Pacifist Service Units and the development of "case-work" social activities. After the war these units, dropping their pacifist connection, generated the Family Service Units movement, where family case-work was widely respected as an essential feature of national social and community policy.