Talks begin over future of local care home.

4th March 2013

Talks began this week with residents and staff over the future of local residential and nursing home, Rosemary Lodge in Wimbledon Village.

Local charity The Wimbledon Guild operates the care home and commissioned a thorough survey from expert consultants.  The results showed that even if a considerable investment of more than £1.5 million was found to upgrade facilities, the premises would still not comply with growing health and safety, legal and residential care requirements needed in the future.

An announcement made this week to residents, their families and the staff of Rosemary Lodge informed them of the decision to enter a consultation period regarding the possible closure of the premises.  Extra help and resource will be provided to residents and staff during this time including the provision of additional agency staff when required.

Chief Executive Wendy Pridmore said ‘Our first priority is to support the needs of the residents and their families at this time.  We want the best possible outcome for each person and if the outcome is closure, we will be exploring all possible solutions to find new homes for our residents.

Staff will be fully supported through the 30 day consultation process with full access to The Wimbledon Guild’s HR Consultant and counselling services.

Charity Grant to Benefit Older People in Merton

February 2013

Following extensive research and working in collaboration with Merton Council, The Wimbledon Guild will be providing an inspiring new service for older people in Merton.  This new borough-wide service aims to contact ‘hard to reach’ people supporting them to regain confidence and enjoy independent living.

The Ageing Well grant will be awarded over 3 years and all will be match funded by The Wimbledon Guild, ie. The Wimbledon Guild will be funding the same amount as Merton Council to maximise the effectiveness of the programme. 

With a long history of working with older people and with the ability to provide match funding, the local charity is well-placed to develop and deliver a meaningful new service that will benefit residents throughout Merton, Mitcham, Morden and Wimbledon.

Wendy Pridmore, Chief Executive at The Wimbledon Guild says: ‘We are proud and excited to have this opportunity to develop our current work with the elderly and to reshape and extend it into a new and meaningful service.   By helping older people throughout Merton to live independently and get the most out of life, this programme has the potential to transform lives.

A structured coaching programme will be developed for older people who have experienced a problem such as a fall or close bereavement. We will deliver a three month structured coaching programme of ten weekly coaching sessions of up to two hours for each person and will be tailor-made to suit the needs, choices and aspirations of each individual.   

The current Social and Activity Centre at Guild House was to have lost its funding at the end of March 2013 under the plans put forward by Merton Council.  As part of the new proposals, the centre will become a more informal ‘drop-in café’ centre with the potential for a greater and more varied range of activities, appealing to a wider audience in the community.  It will give people more opportunity to develop new friendships and enhance social connectedness.

The Windmilers raised £2,278.69

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Windmilers Jim Braden Memorial Open 10K in July and raised this fantastic amount for The Wimbledon Guild.  Windmilers Ralph Gilbert and David Turner came along to  our AGM on 9 October to present us with their supersized cheque.  If you would like to organise a run in aid of the Guild contact Anna Cullen Crouch  on T 020 8739 2920 or via email at E acullencrouch@wimbledonguild.co.uk