Unique events and hospitality at historic Linden House

Linden House Riverside, a charming four-storey riverside event venue and private members club was surrounded, in Georgian times, by an area called Seagreens. The most famous owner of Seagreens was Louis Weltje, the continental head cook to the Prince of Wales.

Although the exact date of the construction of Linden House may never be known, it is first recorded as a named dwelling in 1795. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a Dutch merchant named Isaac le Gooch may have built Linden House as early as 1685. Although Linden House was used as a private dwelling for much of the 18th and 19th century the Victorian era brought major changes to the area.

By late Victorian times the house became home to St. Katherine‘s College for Girls and this occupation lasted until at least the outbreak of the First World War. In 1913 the Directors of the local bakery firm J. Lyons & Co bought Linden House as its sports and social club.

During the Second World War Linden House was used for various purposes to support the war effort, before reverting to a clubhouse use in 1946. Lyons remained in occupation until at least 1956 and the building subsequently transferred to Council ownership.

In 2001 the house was purchased and is now run by the London Corinthian Trust, a registered charity that promotes water sport and the preservation of this landmark. The London Corinthian Sailing Club and the Sons of the Thames Rowing Club boat from Linden House.

These associations help to give Linden House its unique character and atmosphere as a venue and part of the role of the London Corinthian Trust is to support the upkeep and preservation of this architectural jewel by hiring out its rooms and facilities and offering hospitality services.

West London Chambers will hosting a Christmas event for the Women in Business group at Linden House in December and we hope to host a summer event there in 2025!

UK businesses donate 1.8 million items to local charities via nonprofit platform A Good Thing

Nonprofit platform A Good Thing has been doing exciting things in west London for a year now: it has been 12 months since the Heston in the Loop project was launched – a collaboration between ReLondon and the London Borough of Hounslow aimed at reducing waste and creating a sustainable neighbourhood.

The A Good Thing platform allows businesses right across the UK to give things away to local charities. A huge range of things have been donated: in 2023, 1.8 million different items were rehomed with wonderful charities via the app. Everything from bags of cement, lanyards and stationery to laptops, socks and furniture. And 2024 has opened even busier: in the first few months of the year, double the number of matches were happening via the platform. Businesses up and down the country are loving the simplicity of being able to give away things they no longer need via the easy-to-use online platform. Sometimes these are items that have been sitting in warehouses or garages for months –or even years! – waiting for a solution. And now they can be rehomed in minutes via A Good Thing.

A really fruitful source of donations in recent months has been the hotel world: in November 2023 a Heston hotel signed up with A Good Thing as a result of the Heston in the Loop project, and many other hotels right across London quickly followed. The platform has now seen duvets, shaving kits, baby buggies, sofabeds, artwork, bowls, mattresses and hundreds of pillows from London hotels all rehomed with brilliant local charities in the past month or so.

To cap off this latest exciting period, and in recognition of the great work A Good Thing has been doing in the circular/sharing space, in March the charity was delighted to be awarded the Digital Leaders Impact Award 2024 in the Circular Economy category.

www.agoodthing.org.uk