Why We Do What We Do
A Passion for Social Justice
Wintringham was established in 1989 in response to the frustrations of watching elderly men and women die in homeless persons’ night shelters, unable to access mainstream aged care services.
Starting with a fire in our belly, our collective passion for social justice has endured. In the years since our inception, Wintringham has developed an ever expanding range of services all focussed on removing the blight of homelessness for older Australians.
At the time of the formation of Wintringham in the late 1980s, older frail people frequently lived and died in night shelters. In Melbourne, three large homelessness night shelters were operating; Gordon House, Gill Memorial and Ozanum. Even elderly residents were thought of as first and foremost ‘Homeless’ – aged care services wanted nothing to do with them. Unable to place these folk in mainstream residential facilities, it was decided to create a new welfare company called Wintringham and to build our own aged care hostels. With the active help of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Commonwealth Government and its Aged Care Minister at the time, Peter Staples, Bryan Lipmann secured funding for Wintringham to build three hostels for elderly, frail homeless men and women. These three became McLean Lodge in Flemington, Wintringham Hostel in Williamstown, and Wintringham Hostel in Port Melbourne.
Founder - Bryan Lipmann, AM
The founder of Wintringham is its Chief Executive Officer, Bryan Lipmann. The company honours the name of Tiny Wintringham, a homeless man who resided at the original Gordon House in Little Bourke Street. When it appeared that Gordon House was to be closed, Tiny gathered support from government, unions and the media which resulted in Gordon House being rebuilt on the banks of the Yarra River. This new building has now since closed, but Tiny’s successful fight against what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles, continues to inspire the company that has been named in his honour.
Although all of the large night shelters have now closed or been redeveloped, the problems of elderly homeless people unable to get into mainstream accommodation persist. In response, Wintringham is attempting to meet these needs by continuing with its program of building and managing additional housing and aged care facilities, while at the same time developing a wide range of community care and outreach services.