Sir Nicholas Winton is best known for his outstanding humanitarian work during the build-up to the Second World War. Dubbed the ‘British Schindler’, he is credited with saving 669 predominantly Jewish children from the hands of the Nazis, in what was then Czechoslovakia, bringing them to Britain via the Kindertransport and finding them safe homes.
Sir Nicholas’ life story is currently being told on the silver screen in the Hollywood film One Life, now out in cinemas, in which he is played by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Whilst the film focuses on his wartime efforts and their effect on him, Sir Nicholas was also involved in many lesser-known charitable endeavours in the post-war period, for which he is equally worthy of acknowledgement. Here we recount his work with the Abbeyfield Maidenhead Society, a charity providing housing and care for older people in the local area.
Sir Nicholas first became associated with the national Abbeyfield Society in 1960, four years after it was founded by Richard Carr-Gomm with a mission to alleviate loneliness amongst older people. It achieved this by providing safe and secure housing and the support the residents needed to live independent lives within a unique collective living arrangement, focused on values of companionship and community. Abbeyfield today is based upon the same model and values; and supports around 6,000 residents in hundreds of independent living complexes, sheltered housing schemes and care homes worldwide.
Abbeyfield has many Member Societies, each one focused on its local area. In collaboration with his friend Griff Morris, Sir Nicholas set up the Abbeyfield Maidenhead Society in 1973 and opened its first eight-bed sheltered housing scheme, Hardwick House. He went on to raise funds for the construction of a new purpose-built care home for 29 older people in 1980, named Winton House in his honour, and he was awarded an MBE in 1983 for his work with Abbeyfield.
Since his humanitarian work came to light in 1988, Sir Nicholas’ life has attracted a lot of interest, and he has been the subject of BBC programmes That’s Life! and This Is Your Life – it was for the latter that Michael Aspell visited Winton House in 2003 to surprise him with the famous ‘Big Red Book’.
The current Chairman of Abbeyfield Maidenhead, David Cager, has been involved with the Society for over 40 years and worked closely with ‘Nicky’ (as Sir Nicolas liked to be called) on its development. David credits its success partially to Sir Nicholas’ “ability to coerce people like me, and many others, to carry out his wishes.” It was never a question of if something was possible, only how it would be achieved. “This is sometimes the only way to get anything done,” David says. “Nicky’s view on life was ‘don’t ever give up’ and there is no such word as ‘can’t’, with which I totally agree.”
Sir Nicholas steered the Society through some tough periods at a time when many similar organisations were struggling to raise the funds they needed to keep their properties open. He devised a plan to not only continue but expand Abbeyfield Maidenhead’s provision for older people and, between 2004 and 2009 – by which time Sir Nicolas was over 100 years old – the Society merged with other local Abbeyfields in Laleham, Shepperton, Slough, Egham and Burnham, generating significant funds. These were used partly to construct Nicholas House (again named after him) at a cost of around £3.5 million, a care home for 30 residents that opened in 2011.
When Sir Nicolas passed away on 1st July 2015, Winton House was undergoing a major refurbishment and expansion, and as a result now has space for 36 residents. Sir Nicholas remained President of Abbeyfield Maidenhead right up until his death, maintaining an active interest in the Society, and is remembered fondly for, as David evokes, his terrific “drive and energy”.
Sir Nicolas was knighted by the Queen in 2003 for services to humanity, awarded a Pride of Britain Award in the same year, and received many other British and international honours in his lifetime. He made an enormous contribution to the lives of many older people through his commitment to Abbeyfield and is also remembered for his great work for several other charities, including Maidenhead Mencap and the Rotary Club of Maidenhead. Rotary bestowed a number of prestigious accolades on him, including a Sapphire Paul Harris Award, the highest such honour it can give.
Sir Nicolas’ commitment to helping others is legendary, and a statue of him was unveiled in 2010 outside Maidenhead Station. In 2017, following his death, he was honoured by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead with the opening of a Memorial Garden in Oaken Grove Park. The park is located near to Pinkneys Green, where Sir Nicholas and his family lived.