The Sheppard Trust

We provide homes for older women in housing need, and we support them to live independently.  We reduce loneliness and isolation by fostering a supportive community spirit.

The Trust provides accommodation for older women living on small incomes and the aim is to give residents independence with security. 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 older women.

The Sheppard Trust was founded by Miss Elizabeth Sheppard in 1855 to provide low-cost accommodation for older women 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.

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 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 trustees have recently reviewed their strategy for developing the services they offer and are building a new housing development in Surrey, which will more than double the number of residents we can house.

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. 

A secure and comfortable home makes an enormous difference, and with your donation we can continue to provide much more than that.