Sir Michael Parkinson and Wendy Craig add celebrity shine to centre re-opening (From Bucks Free Press)

Sir Michael Parkinson and Wendy Craig add celebrity shine to centre re-opening

12:00pm Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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CHAT show legend Sir Michael Parkinson gave a celebrity shine to the official re-opening of a revamped centre for the elderly.

Sir Michael unveiled a plaque at Elizabeth House, situated in the heart of Cookham in Station Hill near the railway station, alongside the centre’s original founder Elisabeth Sanders and president and BAFTA award winning actress Wendy Craig.

An extension and refurbishment costing nearly £200,000 was recently completed.

Trustee Mike Copland said: “Sir Michael was excellent, he came in and talked to a number of members and showed his interest in the whole issue of looking after the increasing numbers of old people in the community.

“We need places like Elizabeth House to help with that.”

The charity run centre which was established in 1981 now has around 200 members.

It provides meals for between 25 and 40 elderly residents a day and provides a common meeting place in the village for elderly residents to gather and socialise.

Mr Copland said founder Mrs Sanders was “delighted with what we have done which is still very much in the spirit of what she helped to setup 30 years ago.”

“We were delighted with his visit and to see Elisabeth again.

“There were two parts to the day – we officially opened the building after the work we had done on it and the other very important aspect was it was our annual gift day,” he said.

“We invited people in and got them to dip into their pockets for us.”

Sales raised £1,500 towards running costs for the centre which amounts to around £45,000 to £50,000 a year.

“We have to make up half of that through fundraising,” Mr Copland said.

A major fund-raising campaign raised cash for the building.

It was supported by many Cookham residents and businesses as well as a number of charitable trusts. The new facilities have allowed the trustees to extend the range of activities and employ a third member of the team.

New administrator Lynne Williams will work alongside care manager Liz Dye and cook Mandy Salter.

All other helpers are volunteers. New activities have already been started including an art class while a Wii games console has been installed.