Supporting the community for over 50 years!

White Lodge Centre's history dates back to the early 1950's when a group of parents of children with cerebral palsy set up a small treatment centre in Worplesdon Village Hall. They soon realised the need to create a purpose built treatment centre and began a fundraising campaign.

In 1959, the Group Council for White Lodge Centre was established to draw up a constitution and run the operation, with the foundation stone laid at the present site in Chertsey, donated by St.Peter's Hospital, in 1961. A year later the Children's Centre was completed at a cost of £40,000 and the first children admitted. A highlight of the new centre was the hydrotherapy pool, completed in 1964 with funds donated by TV favourite Richard 'Mr. Pastry' Hearne. The building was extended through the 1960's to provide more space and better therapy services with HRH The Duchess of Kent officially opening a £30,000 extension in 1970. Seen below are photos of the Centre taken in 1970.

The 1970's saw more improvements, a second extension to the building and a new hydrotherapy pool which was opened in 1980 by actress Sylvia Syms.

In 1982 a former water pumping station adjacent to the site was given to White Lodge by North Surrey Water. Work began to convert this old building into a centre for disabled adults – a pilot project for the 'Centre for Living'. With this project up and running by 1983, negotiations began with the North West Surrey Health Authority to purchase a bungalow, also adjacent to the White Lodge site.

With a need for residential respite care for disabled children recognised, the bungalow was purchased through fundraising and generous donations. Work began to convert it into a new home for the 'Centre for Living', which had outgrown its home. This allowed the old pumping station to be made into a six-bedroom respite care unit for children – called 'The Cottage'. Both were opened in April 1986 by Cliff Richard.

The early 1990's saw the establishment of the Appeals Department and the Family Link Scheme, with further improvements made to the Centre through donations from local companies. In 1995, an appeal was launched to rebuild and refurbish the Children's Centre. Designed by Broadway Malyan, the rebuilding was undertaken in three phases with Sir Cliff Richard opening the current Phase I and Phase II development in 1998.

White Lodge capped an amazing decade of development with an 'Investment in People' award and a 'Charter Mark' award.

By 2002, the Karten C-Tec Centre had been completed, providing vital access to IT systems for the adults using the Centre. Phase III of the Children's Centre rebuild was also completed and opened by HRH The Countess of Wessex.

The 'Space to be Me' appeal was launched in 2004 with the aim of raising funds to replace The Cottage and The Adult Resource Centre, both buildings suffering from old age and lack of space and resources. The £1.6 million needed to replace The Cottage was met through generous donations and work began in May 2005 on Treetops, a purpose-built facility offering essential leisure activity breaks for up to six young children aged up to 12 years in a home-from-home environment. Completed within budget in May 2006, this fabulous new building was officially opened in September 2006 by Ted Gostling, President Emeritus of the ACT Foundation, which supported the construction of the building with a £1 million donation.

After a successful major capital appeal and over a year of off site activities for our members, White Lodge Centre officially opened Rendezvous – the adult resource centre – in October 2008. This state-of-the-art building was designed with our members in mind and reflects White Lodge’s dedication and commitment to the continued support and growth of those who use it.

White Lodge Centre continues to provide the best facilities through ongoing development.

Statement of Purpose

White Lodge works with disabled adults, children and their families to provide a creative, individually tailored service to meet their needs. We aim to achieve this by:

• Delivering a service to the disabled adult or child at the earliest possible time from initial contact as we know the benefits this can have on their physical, social and emotional well being.

• Actively involving people using our services to tell us what services they wish to receive and when they want them.

• Providing a service that is holistic and can work across administrative and professional boundaries.

• Developing staff and volunteers who have specialist knowledge and skills and who will introduce new approaches where appropriate, thus ensuring White Lodge stays at the forefront of therapeutic and care practices.

• Efficiently delivering a range of services that are of high quality and cost-effective.

• Sharing our knowledge and skills to inform others about best practice ideas that have worked for the people who use our services so that other people can benefit from our experiences.

• Promoting the participation of disabled people within their communities by recognising and overcoming the barriers that
they face.

• Promoting policy that enhances equality thereby challenging oppressive and discriminatory actions.

• Involvement with community groups so that local people understand who we are and what we do.

• Working in partnership with other voluntary organisations and the statutory and business sectors.

Above: White Lodge Centre in the 1980's

Left: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits the Centre
Right: Cliff Richard opens the Centre for Living, 1986

Above: Susan Harrison (Chairman of the Trustees) helps Ted Gostling (ACT Foundation) to cut the ribbon and officially open Treetops in September 2006.