Tracey’s story

For over four years, Tracey has been a resident of Fenner House. Fenner House is one of Walton Charity’s two almshouses in Walton-on-Thames, providing affordable accommodation for people in Elmbridge who want to live in a safe and caring environment. A lifelong resident of Hersham, Tracey moved to Fenner House after the loss of her husband, seeking friendship and a supportive community.

We offer a variety of activities at our almshouses to keep residents active and build a strong sense of community. One of the community activities that Tracey enjoys the most at Fenner House is the gardening club, which runs monthly. As Tracey has spent the past 20 years working at Squires in Hersham, she has seen the pleasure that gardening brings to so many people.

The creation of the kitchen garden at Fenner has been transformative for Tracey. Fellow resident, Terry Baille, leads the team of seven residents who regularly attend the club. Terry is a knowledgeable gardener who once managed two plots at the Charity’s Terrace Road allotment site.

Under his guidance, the kitchen garden has flourished, and the team have cultivated a wide variety of vegetables and flowers ranging from aubergines to winter cabbages. Terry’s expertise has been invaluable, coaching the team with essential gardening skills. The team are making plans to grow fruit next year.

Walton Charity has been named Squire’s Long Ditton’s Charity of the Year. Recently, our gardening club participated in their Plantathon event, which kicked off the Squire’s year-long fundraising efforts for local charities across their 14 gardening centres. Impressively, the team managed to pot up 50 planters in one hour! The sale of the planters raised £430 which was generously donated to Walton Charity.