History of The Furzedown Project

OUR STORY

In 1975, a local GP, Dr Norman Levinson, realised that many of the older people in his care were lonely and isolated, and that this was having a severe impact on their general health and wellbeing.  His solution was to establish the Furzedown Project, a hub for local people aged over 50, designed as a self-help, user-led organisation and aiming to alleviate the isolation.   We owe our existence to this benefactor, and a portrait of the late Dr Levinson hangs in the entrance foyer.  In 2024, a green plaque commemorating him was unveiled before a large crowd on the corner of the building.

Fifty years on we are still committed to carrying on this important work and our members also include many who are neither lonely nor isolated but just enjoy being here.   It is for people living in the Furzedown neighbourhood and throughout the London Borough of Wandsworth, the local authority which has sponsored the project in various ways over the years.  We continue to be indebted to a variety of sponsors (see below) to whom we are enormously grateful. 

For all the generous sponsorship that we enjoy, we are a charity led by our members and we continue to rely on our minimal charges for membership and activities (see membership page) and members’ enthusiastic fundraising efforts, including sales, sponsored challenges, raffles and whatever else we can think of to keep the project solvent.   Our work is also helped by our volunteers, who support us in many ways, including on reception, transport drivers, befrienders and leading our activity sessions.

The project has developed to reflect the growing diversity in the borough.  Divali is celebrated as vigorously as Christmas, and it is not uncommon for a dish of samosas to be handed around with the biscuits at tea break time.  In 2025, the project launched an LGBTQ+ group report, “Aging on our Own Terms”.