Friends Voices

Stories of volunteers supporting the health service since 1949

Friends of One Tower Bridge Road

Central London, London

Photo showing the front of the care home

The Friends of One Tower Bridge Road supports residents of the One Tower Bridge Road care home through developing services on site. These services allow those who cannot leave their homes to feel included in community activities. The Friends provide assistance to activity coordinators during activities and outings, collaborating with staff, residents, and their families.

The Friends fund everything from regular activities to small events that add value to the lives of residents.

One Tower Bridge is a 128-bed care home that specialises in Dementia, Nursing, Residential, and Respite care.

Address: 1 Tower Bridge Road, Southwark, London SE1 4T
Email: towerbridge@friendsofcarehomes.org.uk
Telephone: 0845 450 0285
Website: https://friendsofcarehomes.org.uk/group/friends-of-one-tower-bridge-road/
Founded: 10 July 2015
Members: 6 trustees
Chair: David Wood

2015

Photo of care home residents in the lounge

The Friends of One Tower Bridge Road begin to run their pop up tea room in the care home, equipped with games, music, and treats. There are tea parties every Wednesday afternoon, where residents can eat, drink, and chat with volunteers.

2017

Awards for All grants funding for the Friends to begin developing a new project: a trolley service where Friends deliver sweets, toiletries, books, and more to residents all over the care home. Residents will also get a chance to talk to new faces and create new friendships.

2018

The care home, thanks to a grant from Awards for All, holds a 21st Century Tea Dance hosted by the Entelechy Arts Organisation, where residents of the care home perform as singers, dancers, and poets for their fellow residents. The event became a biannual tradition, where residents show off their artistic abilities alongside visiting artists.

2018

Care home resident using multi sensory equipment

The Co-Op Community Fund grants One Tower Bridge Road £895 to buy a Multisensory Equipment project. The project involves purchasing tools to provide sensory stimulation for visual, olfactory and auditory perception.

2018

The image shows garden furniture in a courtyard

The AAR Team transforms the outdoor gardens at One Tower Bridge Road by introducing new features and plants, cleaning, and painting the garden, and making it a newly beloved space for residents and visitors to spend time outdoors. This cleanup would become an annual July tradition.

2018

Students from St Olave’s School develop a partnership with the care home to help out and provide entertainment for residents.

2020

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the care home stops allowing volunteers in-person. Instead, volunteers donate toiletries.

2020

The Tesco Bags of Help COVID-19 Communities Fund, Oscar Pollack, Deeper Life Bible Church, Co-op, the Merchant Taylors Foundation, and the Francis Winham Foundation all work to donate toiletries to residents.

2022

With the help from donations, the Friends are able to revamp and restock the Trolley Service to provide residents with various goods throughout the care home.

2023

The Friends fund Songs and Smiles, which are weekly intergenerational music sessions. Toddlers ages 0-4 and their guardians join the care home residents for 60-minute weekly gatherings filled with music, dancing, and laughter.

View history timeline

Stories from Friends of One Tower Bridge Road

"So it was partly participating in some of the activities, but also then one-to-one talking and friendship building with a number of the residents."

Listen 00:11:55

Story: Steve Taylor - London

"I think... volunteer in something that you are interested in, passionate about. You don’t have to know anything about it... but I think if you are passionate then that comes through."

Listen 00:07:45

Story: Janessa Rhys-Jones - London

"We could all pretend that we have a government or a societal structure that supports people. It doesn’t. I think most of the support that people get is from each other and from the community"

Listen 00:12:22

Story: Rosie Durham - London

"There's something to me that has really resonated about the fact that we need to help people who run care homes. We need to help those people who live in it to live fulfilled, varied, and different lives. "

Listen 17:28

Story: David Wood - London