Pilgrims’ Friend Society has today announced that it plans to seek planning permission to build a new care home in Wanstead, London.

With a commitment to the long-term future of care in Wanstead, the new Homesdale care home will serve more than 40 older people with brand-new facilities within an established Christian community.

Stephen Hammersley, Chief Executive at Pilgrims’ Friend Society says, “We are pleased to be working towards securing the long-term delivery of excellent Christian care in Wanstead. The existing ageing buildings will soon no longer be able to sustain good care and we are planning to replace them with a new building that allows us to develop the legacy of the wonderful care that has been offered here for more than 70 years. The brand-new building that will replace the old will give local people a home that should be able to sustain high quality care for many years to come.”

The planning application is expected to be submitted later in 2024 after a period of consultation with those currently living in or connected to the existing home and housing provision, as well as all other local stakeholders who are interested in the work at Homesdale such as churches and church leaders, local councillors, and local residents.

Building work is not expected to start at Homesdale before 2026 and in the meantime the home will run as usual delivering great care for those that live with us and good employment for those who are working with us. We will be providing extra support to people living and working with us as required as things develop.

Pilgrims’ Friend Society took on the running of the Homesdale Care and Housing complex in January 2024. As well as sharing a faith-based mission objective to care for older people towards the end of life, the previous trustees of Homesdale wanted to ensure that ageing buildings would not hinder provision of Christian care in the long-term. Pilgrims’ Friend Society’s record of building new housing and care, most recently Middlefields House in Chippenham, meant that the collective vision for the future of care in the town could be delivered.

The new home is expected to be home to more than 40 older people with the building organised into smaller households of around 12 people. This is the same model in existence at Middlefields House and ensures that more people can have live together in a familiar and cosy domestic environment.

More information will become available as the process of consultation gets underway.