Percy Booker
Percy Booker was born to Charles and Anne Booker on 12th October 1881. His father was the Innkeeper at the Windmill Inn in Rustington. The white building still stands today and is close to the Windmill pub towards the railway line. Percy was one of 5 boys and 3 girls. In 1916 at the age of 35 he was called up and served as a baker within the army. After the war he continued as a Master Baker with a shop in Beach Road Littlehampton. Percy and his wife had only one son who sadly died at the age of 20 from appendicitis.
In 1923 he was a Founder Member of the Rotary Club of Littlehampton. He was much involved in various projects to help the needy both in Littlehampton and elsewhere. Initially the interests of the Club centred on Youth organisations such as the Boys' Club, the Sea Cadets and the Scouts. However, there was a gradual shift away from Youth and towards the elderly as people moved to the South Coast following retirement.
In 1948 Percy Booker purchased Rustington Hall as the "Home for Old People". The original Rustington Hall was converted to accommodate 31 "old people". We must remember that in 1948 life expectancy was only 66 for a man and 70 for a woman!
Such was his faith in the project that he used his home and all his assets as collateral for a loan he took out to finance the purchase. Two fellow Rotarians were on the Committee running the Home and several Rotarians bought shares in the venture. To avoid the need to pay tax the venture was registered as a charity limited by guarantee with the name of Littlehampton and Rustington Housing Society Ltd.
Rustington Hall came with a considerable amount of land behind it which was just used to keep horses, and so this gave rise to the dream of Percy Booker to use this land to provide sheltered accommodation. The 'Oakhurst Gardens Estate' was his idea but the project came at a considerable cost of around £110,000 (approx. £2.5m today). Percy Booker set about raising the money and secured a loan from Worthing Rural Council towards the project. Sadly, he did not live to see the opening of Oakhurst Gardens. He stood down in November 1964 after 16 years as Secretary and died in 1965 aged 84.
Oakhurst Gardens was opened by the Duchess of Norfolk in May 1966. His wife, who had been a great source of help and encouragement, was present at the opening and, following Percy's death, Mrs Booker became one of the first residents of Oakhurst Gardens. When the communal hall was opened, it was given the name Booker Hall as a tribute to a great man who achieved so much for the community. It is only right that we continue to remember him by naming the new hall "Booker Hall".
Redevelopment
In 2024, the original Booker Hall was demolished to create space for the brand new Booker Hall community hall that you see now. This is available for residents to use and available for hire by the wider community. It was officially opened in May 2025 by Sue Holland, the President of Littlehampton & Rustington Housing Society, and Sally Morris, Chief Executive Officer.