(available from www.trafford.com or by ringing 0845 230 960. It is 266
pages; a quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-0388; ISBN
1-4120-5490-7; US$21.31, C$26.64, EUR17.32, £12.00)
The choice of the title is significant in that it is an autobiographical
account of how the author sees the various strands in his life leading him
to try and help those who are lonely.
About the Book
This is an autobiography, which leads from a conventional and pleasant
upbringing to the setting up of several Charities. What these Charities
have in common, as an ideal, is the conviction that loneliness is a
condition, which can be ameliorated if its sufferers can feel themselves
not so much part of a family but part of a community of neighbours.
On leaving the army it was the lonely whom the author felt called upon to
help and his fifteen years of military service, both around the
Mediterranean and on ceremonial duty in London, were clearly of immense
help to him. He has paid a number of visits to Uganda and, after the
mysterious death of the Kabaka, he was one of the party, which took the
body back for burial.
His journey has been both straight-forward and spiritual and the practical
result is now seen in about 1500 houses run by these Charities around the
world. With their Golden wedding looming, he and his wife live near Bath
in Somerset; they have 5 children and nine grandchildren. Though aged 83
he is still involved with his work and remains active enough, obviously,
to enjoy it thouroughly.
About the Author
Richard Carr-Gomm was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1922 and, after a
normal and happy childhood with boarding schools, he served in the
Coldstream Guards throughout the war. Twice wounded, he was Mentioned-in-
Dispatches and awarded the French Croix de Guerre. Immediately after the
war ended he served for three years in Palestine and, then, in Suez and
elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Completing his service in London, he
resigned his commission in 1955.
After a period in SW London as a home-help, he founded the Abbeyfield
Society; this Society now has over 900 houses for the elderly and more in
14 different countries around the world including Poland, Germany, South
Africa and Japan. In 1965 he founded the Carr-Gomm Society for people of
all ages (including single mothers with babies), who were lonely.
He married Susan Gibbs in 1957 and they have 5 children and 9
grandchildren. They live in Bath, Somerset. He received the UK Templeton
Award for a 'signal contribution to the field of spiritual values' in 1984
and in 1985 he received an OBE for his 'services to sheltered housing'. In
2005 the Beacon Fellowship judges awarded him a special prize for
'lifetime achievement after the public nominated him for his outstanding
contribution to charity over the last 50 years.
