SLR London has an illustrious pedigree: it was originally conceived at Harvard University and then adopted by a group of individuals at McGill University in Montreal.

After moving to London from Montreal, the former president of the McGill group, Geoff Wright, teamed up with Ray Gladwell, Bob Stinson, and Bertie Watts in 1993 to discuss the possibility of creating a Society for Learning in Retirement in London (rebranded later to SLR London during incorporation)  By 1994 SLR London offered its first course and these four individuals are fondly referred to as the ‘founding fathers’ of SLR.

The Goal: The goal of SLR has always been to appeal to people over the age of 55 who, regardless of their formal education, are keen to actively participate in the learning process (both their own and that of others) in a socially driven environment.

The Venue: Ray Gladwell (then the Executive Director of Westminster College) arranged classrooms and office space in a building owned by the College.  This move began SLR’s long association with Westminster College.  Ten courses on a variety of topics were offered in both the winter and fall seasons and each course was limited to twenty participants.  The format of each class, which required an individual to choose and study an aspect of the course topic and then share their findings for follow up discussion with their classmates, was designed to attract people with lively and curious minds who liked to actively participate in life-long  learning.

In 2005, the property housing SLR was sold to Western University and Westminster College became a charitable foundation.  Although they continued to support SLR, it became evident that the organization would have to become an independent entity if its survival was to be assured.  SLR was therefore incorporated in 2007 as a non-profit organization.

In 2008 the Westminster Foundation and SLR were re-located to the former Mount St. Joseph School and in 2009 SLR received charitable status.  In that year, Spring courses were added to the programme and in 2011 the menu of offerings was further expanded to include two new class formats – Activity and Discussion groups. Social events and Interest groups have since been added.

In May 2013 SLR relocated to Grosvenor Lodge, a heritage home built in 1853 by Samuel Peters. It is owned by the City of London, which provided wheelchair accessibility and ample free parking to make SLR’s relocation possible. The Lodge is operated and maintained by the Heritage London Foundation. In 2014 SLR London was honoured by the City of London for outstanding service to the community. 

In  2016 SLR searched for another home as space at the Lodge was limited. The search proved that we had a financially viable and affordable relationship with Grosvenor Lodge and, after renovations, we were able to expand our space in 2018 to include the former Coach House at the rear of the property, allowing for additional office and meeting space.

In 2020, when the entire world was rocked by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, SLR was forced to cancel its Spring semester. When it became clear that we were to be in lock-down for the foreseeable future, the Board and Executive Committee set to work to acquire the necessary technical knowledge and resources from within our membership and elsewhere, to allow SLR to pivot from in-person classes to online learning. By the Fall of that year, we were able to offer a diverse selection of online courses, as well as tutorials on Zoom usage, to our loyal members.

In 2022 we were able to once again open our doors to in-person gatherings. However, online learning had brought new opportunities to include out-of-town members and members with health or mobility issues into our classes by offering in-person, online and hybrid classes – a practice which continues to the present time.

In 2023, we tweaked our name once again to eliminate the implication of exclusivity that the word “society” might convey. We are now informally calling ourselves ‘Seniors Learning in Retirement London’ while also using the acronym ‘SLR London’ for convenience. 

Our organization continues to thrive, both at the beautiful site of Grosvenor Lodge and in the virtual world. On the occasions when activities are located off campus, SLR makes every effort to ensure they are fully accessible to everyone.

We are looking forward to celebrating our 30th year in 2024!