Abbeyfield Society – the beginning
 
Abbeyfield Hoylake & West Kirby Society is affiliated to The Abbeyfield Society.
 

Abbeyfield began in 1956 when Richard Carr-Gomm became concerned at the number of sad elderly faces staring fixedly from windows, during a visit to Bermondsey, he resigned his commission with the Coldstream Guards, moved from Chelsea Barracks to a bed-sit in Abbeyfield Road and became a home-help. During his visits as a home-help he found that loneliness was the problem and so he spent his army gratuity on a house in Eugenia Road and invited four lonely people to join him. By Christmas 1956 he had become the very first Abbeyfield housekeeper.

A group of interested people (one of whom became Mrs Carr-Gomm) had been meeting at a house in Abbeyfield Road, hence the title was given to the Society. In the space of two years six houses were opened in Bermondsey, housing 26 older people.

By the end of 1960, Abbeyfield societies had been formed in 8 London boroughs and in 15 localities outside London. An essential feature of the idea was - and still is - help by voluntary workers for older people in their own communities. The parent society was incorporated as The Abbeyfield Society, and is a nucleus for the whole movement.

The Abbeyfield Society today

Today there are several hundred houses across the UK alone and in 17 countries around the world – all guided by the original principles and helping many thousands of older people.
 
Abbeyfield in the UK is divided into 11 administrative regions; each having its own regional council of volunteers from societies in the region. The regional officers have regular meetings with each other, so that they can represent the views of their region through national committees. Member societies are initiated (and for the most part managed) by volunteers who come from all walks of life. Every society has its own elected executive comprising the Chair, the Treasurer and the Secretary. Members of the executive committee assume legal responsibilities.

Abbeyfield Hoylake & West Kirby Society, like all Abbeyfield Societies, is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making the lives of older people easier and more fulfilling. We help people to live independently by providing a range of services, all of which are linked to the local community.