Our Aims

The Aims of St. Margaret's House:

  • provide a wide range of social welfare initiatives and services to serve and enable the local community.

  • provide accommodation, encouragement and support for like-minded charitable organisations.
  • provide practical support and opportunity for community networking and development.
  • provide equality of access and opportunity
  • help people to work together in playing a more active part within their community.

A Note from the Director:

Some people don't like the word interesting. It's a catch-all word. Finger on chin; "That's interesting." I sympathise. But if you've a problem with that word please don't read any further. Because it has to be said that St. Margaret's House is a seriously interesting place. Really interesting. 

It's full of very interesting things and extremely interesting people. I look around me and I think how surprisingly interesting it all is.

St. Margaret's House is a Third Sector Community Hub. If you know what that means you probably work in the charity world. What we actually do is quite varied and changes with the times, but our essential task here - as a community hub - is to make the best possible use of a cluster of buildings to aid, facilitate and develop worthwhile projects for and on behalf of the local and wider communities.

Recently we have given a great deal of support in the development of two new charity shops in the adjoining terrace at 23 and 29 Old Ford Road. Bilan is London's only shop dedicated to showcasing arts and crafts made by Somali women. Ikosi stocks African artefacts and vintage clothes providing funds the Tower Hamlets Sickle-cell & Thalassaemia Trust.

This year we have also set up the very first Tower Hamlets branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A). The U3A is an exciting chance for people no longer in full-time employment to get together to share their knowledge, skills and experience. Dozens of classes, courses, talks and activities have taken place:- art, gardening, tai-chi, philosophy, bingo, photography, music and local history among the many.

As well as all the above we run a vegan and vegetarian community cafe which is a story in itself.

There's much more going on here, but that's enough about us. What about you? What can you do to help St. Margaret's House?

Tony Hardie - Director