Selsdon Centre for the Retired
The original centre, a prefabricated building, opened in the late 1970s on what was the former car park site. It was the brainchild of a former Rector of Selsdon, Rev. John Wilmington. A plaque to his memory was dedicated at the opening of the brand new centre, now situated in the Sainsbury’s complex on Addington Road.
Quoting from their brochure, ‘the centre welcomes the retired and elderly of Selsdon, regardless of political, religious or racial backgrounds to comfortable and friendly surroundings’. Support comes from all the local churches including St Columba’s.
The services on offer include lunches and light refreshments, available each weekday, with tea and coffee served throughout the day. Mini-bus transport is provided for the less mobile. The summer afternoon outings are always popular.
Needless to say good organisation is needed to see that everything runs smoothly. The centre is fortunate in having an excellent manager plus assistant and a management committee. At present there is a volunteer force of approximately 80. This may sound a lot but 13 persons are needed to fulfil all duties each day. This consists of kitchen help, mini-bus driver and escort, and also meals on wheels driver and escort. Currently about 20 meals are served daily at the centre and 20 meals on wheels delivered each day.
If you would like to put your spare time to good use, new volunteers are always needed to cover for sickness and holidays – just 2 or so hours per week. The telephone number to contact is 020 8651 1111 (24 hour ansaphone service), or call in person Monday to Friday. You will enjoy a warm and friendly atmosphere and make new friends as well as helping others.
Eileen Bowden
Contact
Following Eileen’s article about the Selsdon Centre it seems appropriate to add something about Contact or, to give it its full name, Contact Selsdon Churches Neighbourhood Care. It began life in 1973 and some of the volunteers from those days are still with Contact. Janet Jones became Coordinator in 1990, working from her kitchen table at home until she moved with Contact to join The Hard of Hearing Project in a shared office behind the old Community Hall. In December 2003 we finally moved to a brand new office in the basement of the Sainsbury’s building.
What is the difference between Contact and the Centre? Many of our clients use both organisations and we work very closely together but, while the Centre is a place to which clients come to enjoy the facilities, Contact goes out to them. The services we offer are there to help people in their day-to-day lives both at home and in getting around to do things which they might otherwise be unable to do. The most popular service is the shopping bus to Sainsbury’s in Warlingham giving the clients the opportunity to do their own shopping, with assistance from the escorts if needed, and to enjoy the short bus ride through the countryside. Many volunteers regularly visit clients who are housebound or sit with a client so that the carer can go out, others offer to drive clients to hospital or doctor’s appointments while the office volunteers do all the paperwork and telephone calls to maintain these services. We also have several items of equipment, such as wheelchairs and bath seats, available on (free) short-term loan.
As with the Centre, Contact always needs new volunteers. You can do as little or as much as you wish. If you can help or just want to find out more, please get in touch with us on 020-8651-4944, or call in at the office.
Chris Waring