Ryder-Cheshire Victorian Homes Foundation Inc.
A Home Away From Home…but how many of those living in and around the Banyule area know about it, how long it’s been there and what it does?
Essentially, the buildings have been there since 1961, initially providing accommodation for war widows before being purchased in 1981 by Ryder-Cheshire Victorian Homes Foundation Inc, (the Ivanhoe Homes). It now provides low-cost short-term accommodation for country, interstate and occasionally overseas patients who must attend various Melbourne hospitals for serious, urgent or ongoing medical treatment. It also caters for those carers who accompany them.
Located at 10 – 14 Donaldson Street, Ivanhoe, the Ivanhoe Homes started as the initiative of two of the most notable philanthropists who emerged after the Second World War; Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and DFC, and Baroness Sue Ryder of Warsaw, CMG and OBE. Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was also one of the Royal Airforce’s (RAF) highest decorated pilots and a Group Captain. Lady Sue Ryder served with the Special Operations executive in the Second World War, a role which took her on several missions behind enemy lines.
The Ivanhoe Homes consist of three multi-storied buildings offering 43 bedrooms, each with a fully equipped kitchenette with dining facilities and an en-suite bathroom. To cater for those residents with mobility issues, lifts were recently retrofitted to the buildings at numbers 12 and 14 Donaldson Street.
Because of their age much needs to be done to the buildings to maintain the required standards of comfort for the residents and the Homes are currently undergoing a complete refit of the en-suite bathrooms, soon to be followed by refurbishing the kitchenettes, both of which are very expensive undertakings. This work is anticipated to be completed early in 2021, current Covid-19 lockdown permitting.
Apart from our manager’s, we are staffed and supported by our valued local volunteers who donate their time and services to keep the Ivanhoe Homes running.
Find out more about Ryder Cheshire Homes.
