The Sheppard Trust - Housing for Elderly Ladies

The Trust provides accommodation for elderly ladies living on small incomes and the aim is to give residents independence with security. The houses are in the Holland Park area of London and each resident has a small self-contained flat. The Trust is administered under a Charity Commission Scheme. Legacies and donations for our work would be greatly appreciated so that we may continue to offer a secure home to these elderly ladies.

The Sheppard Trust was founded by Miss Elizabeth Sheppard in 1855 to provide low cost accommodation for elderly ladies living on small fixed incomes. Over the years, it has rented or owned a number of properties in different parts of west London. Over a twenty year period from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s it bought properties in the Holland Park area, where it is still located today.

The Trust’s focus is on maintaining its properties in good order and improving as far as possible the quality of life enjoyed by its residents.

We encourage our residents to live independently in their flats, but are ready to offer support when problems arise. The small staff team, and in particular the warden, can help in practical ways and by giving advice, for example on welfare benefits. Just as importantly, we can help residents address problems of older age: loneliness, insecurity, immobility and disability, and physical and mental decline.

The Trust’s two properties both have attractive communal gardens, and each house has a guest room and a small launderette.

The trustees have recently reviewed their strategy for developing the services they offer, and have decided to develop new extra care housing in another part of London yet to be identified.

Extra care housing provides a model of accommodation between sheltered housing, which the Trust currently provides, and a residential care home. The Trust's vision is to build high quality flats designed as 'homes for life'. Residents would therefore live independently in their own flats, as they do now, but benefit from a range of communal and recreational facilities designed to encourage residents to engage in an active and fulfilled old age. Residents would also have ready access to a team of carers as and when their care needs arose or increased.

Furthermore, the Trust plans to increase the number of homes it can offer to its beneficiaries.