From 1927 to 1934 she was a member of the clandestine Ferguson's Gang, a group of eccentric philanthropists who donated money to the National Trust and other rural conservation appeals.
In her alter-ego as Red Biddy, Pinney, cloaked and masked, delivered Ferguson's Gang's first donation to the National Trust offices in 1933.
[1][2] Unorthodox in many ways, Pinney kept a vow of silence on Wednesdays,[1] and was a committed peace activist.
She pioneered "methods for conflict understanding" which she called "Creative Listening" and "Children's Hours", the former incorporated as a limited company in 1967.
[3] She toured Britain in the early 1960s inviting people to share their views on controversial subjects such as homosexual law reform and nuclear warfare while she used her structured listening technique.