Our History

Our history dates back to 1855, when the founder, Miss Elizabeth Sheppard inherited a sum of money that she chose to use for the benefit of others.  In that same year she formed The Annuitants’ Homes, which many years later was renamed The Sheppard Trust.

HM Queen Mary visiting the Sheppard Trust in 1949

Elizabeth Sheppard was born in 1805 and lived in Hereford Road, Bayswater, W2; she died in 1878 and is buried in a family grave in Kensal Green Cemetery.

The charity she founded rented its first property in Ossington Street, Bayswater, W2, to provide homes for respectable ladies with limited incomes.

The Trust bought numbers 3 and 4 Lansdowne Walk in 1936, having rented or bought a number of other houses in different areas of West London in earlier years.  In 1946, it bought 12 Lansdowne Walk; in 1954, number 2 and in 1957 number 14.  At one point the Trust housed over 40 women in bedsits, but in the late 1970s to early 1990s the bedsits were converted into one bedroom and studio flats housing 29 residents.

The Sheppard Trust residents moved to interim accommodation in 2024 and in January 2025 the Trust left Lansdowne Walk.  Read on for what comes next!

Our Future

Our homes at Lansdowne Walk served their purpose well for many years, but they fell well short of modern standards for older people’s housing.  The issues included:  no access for wheelchairs or mobility scooters, lack of space for people with care and support needs, including small bathrooms and kitchens, poor noise and heat insulation, limited communal space and high maintenance costs.  And there were significant limitations on how they could be adapted to meet modern and future best practice in housing for older people.

To address this and to meet an increasing demand from applicants, The Sheppard Trust is developing a new scheme of modern, spacious housing, with excellent communal facilities and easy access to care and support services.

Our vision is to provide high quality housing for an increased number of older women in need, with support and care available, and providing a home for life.  The scheme will be a mixed community of independent and active women in housing need and those who need more support or have additional care needs.  Support and care services will be available on site so residents can be assured that in most cases their future needs will be met at home.

There will be facilities for a range of community activities including social, recreational, craft and cultural to encourage a full and active lifestyle to combat loneliness and isolation.

Building is underway and we expect to open our new scheme in the summer of 2026.

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