Was there any disruption caused by the tube strike? Not here at Whitechapel there wasn’t! Northern Trust battled any transport trauma’s and 7 hardy volunteers got here to serve and smile. Not that London Transport affect our customers, they are used to travelling by shank’s pony; their feet are a testament to that. Great admiration must go to […]
by the gentle author At dawn on Easter Tuesday, while most of the world was still sleeping, Contributing Photographer Colin O’Brien & I paid a visit to the Whitechapel Mission which has been caring for the homeless and needy since 1876. The original building, constructed as the “Working Lads Institute” in 1885, still stands next […]
Wow! Fridays… It’s a full on day here. 6am to 11am as normal with Eversheds LLP volunteering in the kitchens. Brilliant job guys. Then straight into Ladies Day at 12 noon to hold an afternoon session of lunch, a meaningful activity with a clothing session at the end. Credit Suisse ladies were the helpers here. […]
Thursdays is always a productive day here at the Mission. It is the day Marina from Job Centre Plus visits. (sadly, she is very camera shy and doesn’t like any sort of publicity so there is no photo I’m afraid). Our guys can sometimes have a tough time sorting out their benefits, they do not cope […]
I’m not a morning person, I’ve never lived in East London and I’m not big fan of fry-ups. So why do I get up before the crack of dawn to trek over to Whitechapel Road in order to cook and serve breakfast with the Whitechapel Mission? The reason is simple: the Mission provides a lifeline […]
Every cloud and silver linings spring to mind. I know this to be a true statement after today. Todays cloud – Unfortunately today’s volunteers were unable to make it. Our silver lining – are the ex-servicemen of New Belvedere House. About 25% of the people who use the centre are ex-servicemen, an astounding figure really when you think […]
Bank holidays and weekends are when most of us get to spent time with our friends and family. Free time for the most of us; so when we get regular groups giving up that precious time to volunteer at the Mission and give time to others makes it all the more moving. Good Friday we saw the […]
Full team of volunteers today; A relatively new company to the Mission is Newman, Martin & Buchan LLP. They first came to volunteer July 2013 with the senior partners, some of those same volunteers came back today with an Army! Today’s team consisted of 18 people. 7 in the kitchen, 2 in Life skills; thank you […]
A huge thank you to the volunteers from Barclays Corporate. What a unbelievable difference a smile makes. you were fabulous! Exactly what we were looking for. We have always been aware that many of our visitors each morning come into the Mission in need of a hot shower, clean clothing and a hot breakfast. Others to be able to have a […]
Most days we go home on a real high, which makes it all the more poignant when a low day comes along. Sadly we got news today that one of our long term users of the Mission died this week. He was only in his early 40’s but when one reads all the reports on people who […]
What a day! We welcomed Lola Staffing today for the first time. thank you for your enthusiasm; it was very infectious. We all look forward to seeing you again. An enormous amount achieved in Lifeskills today; White and Case Lawyers giving their weekly advice session. Two Fantastic things that happened that are definitely worth a space in the blog; One of our […]
THERE were eight of us. Martin, Jan, Dave, Sally, Dave and Nance, Tony Morling and me. On the Tuesday we would leave the hotel in Stratford very early, catch the bus to the Whitechapel Mission and start feeding breakfasts mainly to men and mainly to those who slept rough outside on the streets from 6am […]