The Newent Association for the Disabled was founded in 1981 by Trudie Sheppard, MBE, who is herself disabled, and is the umbrella organisation for Sheppard House, Dial-A-Ride, the Charity Shop and the One Stop Shop.   Available funds at that time were just two pounds, and in the early days the Association was a small club held in the local Community Centre.  

Trudie Sheppard, MBE

President and Founder of Newent Association for the Disabled

I have a dream .....

This statement is always associated with Martin Luther King, however during the early 1990's Trudie Sheppard was uttering a similar clarion call, galvanising the help of local businesses and the community to help realise her dream of a purpose built Day Centre for the disabled and the elderly.

The dream became a reality in 1994 with the first members joining Sheppard House Day Centre.  The past decade has seen the facility develop, providing cooked meals, art and craft workshops, entertainment, competitions, computer courses, theatre visits, countryside trips and escorted holidays to specialised holiday centres.

At the present time, approximately 175 disabled and elderly people attend Sheppard House weekly and in excess of 35,000 people use the Dial-A-Ride service annually.

Thanks to a massive fund raising effort the most recent project to add a bathing suite offering assisted bathing to the already busy centre has just been completed.  Research has shown that there is a great need for bathing facilities for the older and more disabled clientele, as there is very limited availability in Newent and the surrounding areas at present.   Sheppard House already offers some medical assistance, such as chiropody, to that the new extension has enabled the addition of other services such as hairdressing and therapy baths with more being added shortly.

It is hoped that an additional range of activities, such as pottery, snooker, bowls, film shows/theatre shows etc, all of which require more space than presently available, can be offered