In 1996, it merged with Ravenswood, a Berkshire-based charity for people with learning disabilities, to create one of the largest welfare organisations within the British Jewish community.

Norwood provides services supporting vulnerable children, families and people with learning disabilities, within the Jewish and wider communities in London and the South East.

In 1795, brothers Abraham and Benjamin Goldsmid began campaigning for funds for a major Jewish poor relief scheme.

Following the death of the Goldsmid brothers, Queen Victoria's uncle, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, became the Hospital's first royal patron in 1815.

During this period, it became known to a wider audience due to a high-profile annual day trip to Southend organised by the London Taxi Drivers' Fund for Underprivileged Children.

During World War II, the children were evacuated to homes in Worthing and Hertford and the building was used by the London Fire Brigade as a training centre.

Ravenswood was established in 1953 in Berkshire by a group calling themselves the Jewish Association of Parents of Backward Children.

In the latter half of the 1950s, nine family houses were built or acquired by Norwood in South London with the aim of giving children a homelike environment.

In June 2008, the Hope Charity, a London-based organisation supporting children with special educational needs, joined Norwood's child and family services.

In 2020, the charity withdrew its application for planning permission to upgrade accommodation in the village because its development partner, Persimmon plc, pulled out of the project.

The Hope Centre supports children with special educational needs, using a range of techniques including the Reuven Feuerstein methodology.

[6] In 2011, Norma Brier resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Norwood and was succeeded by Elaine Kerr.