Abbeyfield UK is a registered national charity which provides 'family-style' houses where elderly people, who are unable or unwilling to live alone, can find support and companionship without losing their independence and privacy. Most Abbeyfield houses accommodate between eight and twelve residents in a relaxed and homely setting.

The Problem
As we live longer the likelihood of spending our last years alone increases. In Britain today there are 10 million pensioners. By the year 2011 almost 5 million of us will be over 75 and one and a half million will be over 85. To cope with this ageing population our society needs to provide

• appropriate housing and facilities for older, less mobile people
• adequate care services and support by care providers
• sufficient resources to support people in their later years

Thankfully, better standards of living and improved healthcare mean that most of us can look forward to an active and fulfilling life in our later years. Even if getting older means a lessening of independence, there is now a support system in place which means that older, less mobile people can stay longer in their homes.

But to some there comes a time when coping alone simply becomes too much, when visitors get fewer and fewer, when even community support cannot alleviate feelings of isolation and insecurity. Moving to very sheltered housing then becomes an option.

A Solution
The first Abbeyfield house in Bermondsey in 1956 was the idea of Richard Carr-Gomm and planned by a group of volunteers meeting in a house in Abbeyfield Road - hence the name. Three years later the national Abbeyfield Society was founded to encourage local people to provide similar houses throughout the country.

The movement spread across the whole of the United Kingdom and beyond, and Abbeyfield now provides care for over 8000 elderly people, partly through locally managed Abbeyfield societies which are independent charities in their own right, and partly through Abbeyfield UK, a centrally managed federation of Abbeyfield Houses supported by local volunteers. Abbeyfield’s main objective is to help residents maintain their dignity and independence by:

• reducing loneliness and isolation
• encouraging them to lead active lives
• meeting their needs through the provision of very sheltered housing
• using volunteers to provide caring support

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