Our two independent living schemes, Fenner House and Mayfield, offer accommodation for people aged over 55 who want to live in a safe and caring environment.

Our residents are part of life’s rich tapestry and many of them have a huge number of interests and hobbies.

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Meet Rita…..

Rita has been a resident at Mayfield for about 8 years now and during that time she has participated in many of the activities provided for our residents. On Friday mornings, Rita can be found at Shooting Star’s shop in Shepperton where she volunteers, sorting, steaming and pricing the clothing donations.

Rita also volunteers for Molesey Musical Theatre, making and altering costumes. Ahead of productions, her flat is a hive of activity with all manner of dressmaking material carefully laid across her carpet and furniture. Often, these productions involve multiple costume changes, so Rita can be found backstage working against the clock to alter costumes.

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Meet Carol…..

Another Mayfield resident, Carol has lived there with her husband for four years. A hairdresser by trade, Carol found herself revisiting her love of art during the pandemic. Art has long been used to improve mental health and wellbeing and Carol found that painting really helped her cope with the isolation that many of us felt during lockdown. She particularly enjoys the art classes run by our talented member of staff, Liz.

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Meet Sharon…..

Sharon has been a resident at Fenner House for almost 20 years. She finds creative projects therapeutic and rewarding and spends hours knitting scarves, fingerless gloves and hats, which she donates to homeless charities such as Helping Hands, the Salvation Army and Rentstart. Every year Sharon sends around 230 hats to good causes.

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Meet Gerald…..

Gerald is a keen photographer and has been since he was 8 years old. Using the skills he learnt from his father, Gerald went on to work for the BBC. Nowadays, he enjoys being out and about in Elmbridge with his camera and has built up a catalogue of beautiful photographs.

“It is such a lovely building, and it has everything that anyone could ever want here. We are very proud”

— Jean Rigden, Elmbridge Mencap

Burview Hall on Queen’s Road, Hersham has been home to Elmbridge Mencap for the past 56 years. Mencap use the hall to run regular activities and social clubs for people with learning disabilities and their families. Their Family Fun sessions are particularly popular, providing a great opportunity for local families to meet and socialise.

Burview Hall is one of Walton Charity’s community properties which provide affordable space for local charities and community organisations. The original building was owned by Elmbridge Mencap and stood on our land for 33 years but in 2000 the building was demolished to make room for a new purpose-built hall, twice the size of the original building.

The large hall can now accommodate up to 100 people and is regularly used for sports and other activities. The two sensory rooms provide a relaxing space and are often used by stroke patients and people with dementia.

The Day Service, run by Elmbridge Mencap, offers people who visit Burview Hall a chance to try activities such as gardening, cookery, arts and crafts, teaching new skills and encouraging independent living. The sensory garden, which opened last year, offers a safe and colourful space for people of all ages, and the raised planters ensure everyone can get involved in growing plants and vegetables.

Elmbridge Mencap does not receive financial support from Mencap at a national level, so relies on local fundraising and donations. Jean Rigden, one of the driving forces behind Elmbridge Mencap, has seen lots of changes at Burview Hall over the years but is proud of the building and outdoor space now available to local families:

To find out more about Elmbridge Mencap’s activities, contact Jean on 01932 221304 or e mail info@elmbridgemencap.org.uk

School uniforms can bring a school community together and help children to feel they belong, but they can also put financial pressure on families. 

In April 2021, the government passed The Cost of School Uniform Act requiring schools to make their uniforms affordable for everyone. At a time when living costs are spiralling, cutting the cost of school uniforms is a welcome opportunity to help struggling families.

According to The Children’s Society Wrong Blazer Report, parents with children in state maintained schools spend on average £337 a year on school uniform for secondary school pupils, and £315 a year for primary school children.

Through our partnerships with local schools, Walton Charity is supporting children from low-income families with equipment, uniform and shoes for school. Over the past two years, we have given out more than £30,000 in grants to help local families with the cost of school uniforms.

For Lynn Williams, Headteacher at Chandlers Field School, it is small changes that can make a big difference to the cost of uniforms. Selling iron-on badges rather than branded items brings down the cost of school jumpers and cardigans, and offering a free uniform exchange helps to reduce cost and waste.

“Many of the ideas for initiatives at the school come from the children themselves. Our Uniform Exchange not only helps families to access free uniform it also encourages recycling and cuts down on waste which is important to our school.”

Offering iron-on badges for blazers also helps to keep costs down for pupils at Three Rivers Academy. Making jumpers optional if blazers are worn gives families more choice and is one less compulsory item to buy.

As part of the guidance from the Department for Education, schools are encouraged to keep branded items to a minimum and give parents a choice about where they buy clothing. Schools are also encouraged to make second-hand uniform available and ensure parents know how to donate and buy pre-loved uniform.

Research by MyNametages, shows that 1.4 million wearable school uniforms are thrown away each year in the UK. At Hurst Park Primary School, dedicated Uniform Coordinator roles on the school’s PTA ensures that pre-loved uniform is readily available for families. The volunteer coordinators are responsible for organising termly uniform sales and taking online orders throughout the year.

“Although we believe uniform is important for our school identity we want to do what we can to make our policy inclusive. As well as having a thriving second-hand uniform offering, we have recently changed our PE kit in response to the new guidelines and feedback from parents. Changing to plain black joggers and plain t-shirts will make it easier for parents to buy items at a more reasonable price. We are also phasing in the changes so there is no pressure for families to go out and buy new items straight away.”

Putting affordability and best value at the core of a school uniform policy has the potential to make life easier for children and parents or carers.

Find out more about the new school uniform guidance and how you can help your school make positive changes to its uniform policy here www.childrenssociety.org.uk/cut-the-cost.

If you live in Elmbridge and need help covering the cost of school uniforms, find out more about Walton Charity funding.

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Cost of School Uniform guidance

The new Government guidance says schools should:

• Prioritise cost and value for money when setting uniform policy.

• Engage with parents and pupils when developing their uniform policy.

• Keep the number of branded items to a minimum.

• Ensure second-hand uniform is easily available.

• Make the uniform policy clear and easy to access for parents.

• Ensure uniform suppliers are good value for money and avoid relying on single-suppliers where possible.

For almost 10 years, Nick Stuart has served as a trustee of Walton Charity. As he comes to the end of his term, Nick reflects on some of his most memorable moments and just how much change the charity has seen over the past decade.

“I was driven by the fact that local poverty seemed to be getting worse and this was a great opportunity to give back and use my past experience to benefit the charity.”

— Nick Stuart

From biscuits to Board papers...

I first became a trustee at Walton Charity in 2012 after retiring from United Biscuits. I had spent 32 years working in various roles, including marketing, sales and communications and saw the opportunity of becoming a trustee as a great way to use the skills that I had learnt in business to support my local community.

Nick Stuart, (man on left) visiting the KT One Two football project, supported by Walton Charity

I must admit, I did have a degree of trepidation when I took over the role of Chair in 2018 from David Nash, who sadly died. However, I was driven by the fact that the local issues of poverty seemed to be getting worse and this was a great opportunity to give back and use my past experience to benefit the charity.

Shifting priorities and fighting weeds...

Selling our then care home, Sherwood House, represented a step-change for Walton Charity. It freed up time to focus on our core areas such as supporting more local people to have a better standard of living, signposting them for help, and improving our independent living and allotment sites.

I can vividly recall a visit to our largest allotment site in Terrace Road where, literally, one third of the land had turned into a dumping ground. Not only was it an eyesore, but such a waste as we had demand from local people looking for space to grow their own food.

Our Green Spaces Manager, Karen, was tasked with clearing the land. Not only did she achieve that, but she created a Community Allotment where people from all walks of life can come together, socialise and learn new skills.

It’s great to see local people who feel isolated, or who face barriers because of their mental or physical health, joining in regular outdoor activities in an area that was once covered in weeds!

Opening the doors of Charities House...

In 2018, we purchased two adjacent buildings in central Walton to be used for office space and meeting rooms for local charities. We knew there was a growing need for affordable long-term accommodation for smaller charities and we are pleased that today Charities House is home to fantastic local organisations like Home-Start Elmbridge and North West Surrey Samaritans.

Another highlight, this year, was opening the doors of our latest project – The Bridge, a new community space offering practical support for Elmbridge families struggling with the rising cost of living.

Working in partnership...

Working together is something that all of us at Walton Charity agree is the way forward. We can achieve so much more if we work in partnership with other organisations and can support so many more local people. It’s been great to see many new partnerships formed over the years.

A final word....

I believe that there have been some great ideas which have come to fruition due to the hard work and dedication of the charity’s staff and as a result of the trust that our Board of Trustees has in the staff team.

As I prepare for my final Board meeting, I feel a sense of quiet pride to have been part of these changes that I have seen at Walton Charity.

“The Tuesday hub is all about community. It’s a safe place for everyone to feel welcome. It’s about encouragement and friendship, and there is good coffee and homemade cake!”

— Cathy Wise, community café volunteer

Walton Charity supports projects that reduce isolation and help people feel more connected to their community. Our Community Grant of £2,500 helped St Nicholas’ Church in Thames Ditton to set up their Talbot House Café - a new community café for anyone in the local area looking for support or a friendly ear. The café started with a grant to buy a coffee machine for the church, but the vision was always that it would become a community hub for Thames Ditton and that has certainly been achieved.

The Talbot House Café is open on Tuesday mornings and is a partnership between St Philip’s School (a local school for children with special educational needs), the East Elmbridge Foodbank, and St. Nicholas’ Church. The café is run by the students from the school and, with the help of volunteers from the church and the foodbank, Year 11 students are offered work experience*, learning new skills and building their confidence.

The Thames Ditton Foodbank (part of the East Elmbridge Foodbank) run a session at the café on Tuesday mornings, providing 3-days' worth of emergency food to local people who are struggling financially, and a warm, welcoming place to meet for a chat over a cup of coffee and a slice of home-made cake. Volunteers can also signpost people to receive more specific help, with a Citizens Advice debt adviser on hand to offer practical advice.

The thriving ‘knit and natter’ group also meet at the café on Tuesdays; and every fortnight, a volunteer runs a pre-loved clothing stall.

* Only 5.1% of adults with a learning disability known to their local authority in England are in paid work (NHS Digital, 2021).

Thanks to funding from the Trussell Trust, Citizens Advice Elmbridge West (CAEW) are expanding their services to Walton & Hersham Foodbank locations, offering one-to-one financial advice sessions for people attending the foodbank.

The grant of £54,000 over three years, will fund experienced debt and benefit advisers to attend three sessions a week, at St John’s and St Andrew’s churches in Walton and St Peter’s church in Hersham. The advisers will offer support to people who may not be accessing Citizens Advice services through traditional routes.

The rising cost of living is increasing pressure on households and there has been an upsurge in people seeking help from Citizens Advice and local foodbanks. Similarly, advice on managing energy debts has reached unprecedented heights. The advisers will work with directly with clients, helping them manage their finances and make sure they are receiving all the support they are entitled to. 

Margaret Bourne, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Elmbridge West said:

“It has been very successful to reach out to those in our community who may not have normally accessed our service. We hope that we can help and advise more people at the earliest opportunity, to avoid escalation of the issues people are facing.”

Nina Malyon, Walton & Hersham Foodbank Manager said:

“We are delighted to have received this grant and be working in partnership with Citizens Advice to enable foodbank clients to easily access money advice. We want to look to a future when people won’t need to use foodbanks and this is a helpful step towards that.”

We are delighted to announce that Rob Mills has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Walton Charity.

Rob is currently the Director of Business Operations at Mount Green Housing, a small Surrey-based housing association, and has previously worked for Accent Housing and the Guinness Partnership. He has also been a trustee for several housing associations and charities, including Transform Housing & Support, Greenoak Housing, Walton Charity and Charity Works (a graduate trainee programme for the non-profit sector).

One of his first jobs nearly 30 years ago was as a Housing Trainee for Elmbridge Borough Council, and as a Housing Officer, he managed properties in Walton-on-Thames.

“I am really pleased to have been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Walton Charity, an organisation with such a long and strong history. I look forward to building on the excellent work Jackie has done over the past 15 years, and ensuring the charity continues to support the people and communities of Elmbridge, particularly in these challenging times.”

Rob will be joining the charity in late March and will be leading a review of the recommendations from our report ‘Under the Radar’.

“I have been hugely privileged to lead Walton Charity through the past fifteen years. During that time, we have seen many changes as we responded to austerity, the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis.

Our recently commissioned research, ‘Under the Radar’, shows us how the nature of poverty has changed in our local area with more working families struggling to make ends meet. The high cost of housing and childcare in Elmbridge, coupled with rising energy and food bills are tipping more families into poverty. The priority for Walton Charity is to continue working with local partner organisations to tackle these issues.

Walton Charity has been working in the local community for over 800 years. Poverty is not new, but neither is our humanity and ability to come together to help others.

As an endowed charity we need to serve the community today but also ensure that we will be able to do so for years to come. We have no doubt that there will be future challenges as poverty and inequality evolve to impact differently on our community.

The ‘CEO baton’ passes to Rob Mills who will, with our amazing staff team, trustees and partners, do even more to support our local community.”

Our Delegated Funds are allocated to local organisations who work directly with individuals and families in Elmbridge on low incomes. The funds allow local organisations to respond quickly in times of crisis, providing vital support and taking immediate pressure off families.

The Elmbridge Family Centre, one organisation who hold a Delegated Fund, support families with children aged 0-11 years. Their Deputy Service Manager, Katie, shared some stories of local families they have been able to support through their Walton Charity Delegated Fund:

Emma’s Story
Emma is a single parent who suffers from epilepsy. Whilst having a seizure, her young daughter managed to get out of the house and was found wandering the streets.

Elmbridge Family Centre helped Emma by purchasing an emergency alarm and alert system. This will keep mum and her child safe should she have an epileptic seizure in the future.

Janice’s Story
Due to mental health issues in the past, Janice has joint custody of her only child, Tom, who is 7 years old. Tom has experienced a huge amount of trauma in his short life, including his mother being subjected to domestic abuse. He has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and suffers from anxiety attacks. Elmbridge Family Centre used their Walton Charity Delegated Fund to pay for ten drawing and talking therapy sessions which have enabled Tom to express worries he isn’t able to talk about.

Ellen’s Story
Ellen has three children aged 9, 8 and 5 years. Following domestic abuse, the family fled to a refuge and are now living in temporary accommodation in Elmbridge, waiting for a more permanent home to become available.

Ellen is struggling to cover the cost of transport for her children to continue attending their school outside of Elmbridge and often spends the day in the town because she can’t afford the cost of travelling home again. Elmbridge Family Centre have helped Ellen with the cost of travel for six weeks and are now supporting her family to find a local school that can take all three children, so they can make new friends and settle more easily into their new community.

Find out more about our Delegated Funds here.

A Walton Charity Community Grant of almost £40,000 (over three years) will contribute towards the salary costs of a manager for the Beehive Support Hub - a not-for-profit café and community hub at the Lower Green Community Centre in Esher.

The Hub provides a warm and friendly place for Lower Green residents to meet socially and access specialist support and advice, where needed.  Whether they just want a cup of tea and a chat or are struggling with debt, mental health, or other issues, it’s a place to go when things are tough.  By offering people practical support and a listening ear early on, it prevents problems from escalating to a crisis.   

Many of the Hub’s projects centre around food - bridging the gap between food waste and food poverty by redistributing surplus supermarket and home-grown produce for local families through their Community Fridge. Over the winter months the Beehive is operating as a Warm Welcome Hub providing homemade soup and free hot drinks and access to other initiatives to support local people during the cost-of-living crisis. The Surrey-based baby bank, Stripey Stork, also visits each fortnight, providing good quality clothing, toys and essential items for babies and children.  

The hardworking team at the Support Hub are keen to expand the services offered in the future and provide a calendar of events, skills workshops, social groups, health and advice services and much more.  

Jenny French, Community Projects Manager Lower Green Community CIO said: “We are very grateful to Walton Charity for their generous grant to support the work of our Community Hub. To have the salary of our Support Hub Manager assured for the next three years is a great boost and will help us to plan and develop further services and projects to support the local community in the future.”

A new Walton Charity Community Grant of £5,000 will help Relate West Surrey to fund more counselling for people on low incomes across Elmbridge.   

Relate West Surrey is a charity providing much-needed support and talking therapy to individuals, couples, families and young people, particularly those experiencing family breakdown and mental health issues. 

In recent years Relate has seen an increase in demand for counselling, but all too often families cannot afford the full cost. The bursary fund, supported by our community grant, will help to relieve financial pressure and open up the option of therapy to those who need it most. 

Jill Rawling, Chief Executive Officer of Relate West Surrey, says: “We are very grateful to Walton Charity for this grant which will enable more cash-strapped families to get help. We have seen a significant rise in demand for our iRelate service for 10-18 year olds, with more 10 year olds suffering from anxiety, peer relationship pressure, low mood and family problems”

2022 has been another challenging year. Just as we are learning to live with Covid, the rising cost of living brings a new set of challenges. Working with our partners, we will continue to do all we can to support our local community through these challenging times.

But this year we’ve also had some happy highlights. From joining forces with Walton & Hersham Foodbank, to celebrating our win at the Hampton Court Flower Show, here are some of our favourite moments from 2022….

• Funding some fabulous community projects including recipe boxes and homecooked meals for local families, mental health workshops for schools and practical support for parents.

• Watching our green spaces flourish with the launch of our new Tree Canopy Project (thanks to some hard graft from our corporate partners) and, of course, taking home the top prize for our Community Allotment entry to the Hampton Court Flower Show!

• Celebrating… the Queen’s Jubilee with our Community Allotment volunteers, our love of books through The Great Elmbridge Book Hunt, and ALL the big events with our independent living residents.

• Officially welcoming Walton & Hersham Foodbank into the Walton Charity family.

• Launching an important new report which will help us to tackle poverty and low income in our local community.

• Watching the total climb in our Santa Stork Christmas appeal funding presents for children across Elmbridge who need a helping hand.

For more on the stories behind these highlights, just click on the photos below.

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, volunteers, staff and trustees who have helped to make these moments - and all our work - possible.

We hope there will be many more highlights in 2023!

Walton & Hersham Foodbank

Cook4Care community project

Jubilee celebrations

Great Elmbridge Book Hunt

Home Start parenting cafe

Hampton Court Flower Show

New local research

Our corporate volunteers at work

Halloween with our residents

This year's Christmas appeal