Tower Hamlets Mission

The history of THM

Where Halford’s, PC World and Currys now sit in Stepney, the offices of Charrington’s Brewery once stood. The heir to this empire was born in Bow Road on 4th February 1850 and duly christened Frederick Nicholas Charrington. In due course he joined the family business and the stage seemed set for a life of comfort and prosperity. He seemed to have everything that a young man wished for. He had a pleasant disposition, was reasonably clever, and extremely wealthy.

One memorable day as he was walking through a slum district he saw a poorly dressed woman approaching a public house, her young children clutching her skirts. Pushing the door open she called “Tom do give me some money for bread”. The husband was furious when he came out and knocked her into the gutter. Mr. Charrington went to help her and looking up saw his own name in large letters on the public house. He went home and told his father that he must leave the family business and devote his life to help the poor.

He opened a school, led a fight to clean up the Music Halls, became an ardent worker for the Temperance Movement and a member of the London County Council for Mile End. However, his real work began on his thirty sixth birthday when The Great Assembly Hall in Mile End Road was opened This magnificent building held five thousand people and was crowded on Sundays when 700 poor and destitute people sat down for tea prior to the evening service. The great building was also a hive of activity during the week with a Coffee Tavern, Bookshop, and numerous activities taking place in the various halls.

Frederick Charrington led a modest life yet people were drawn to him and thousands found a new life in Christ because of him. He died in the London Hospital in January 1936 so was spared the pain of seeing his church destroyed during the war. A well equipped Mission Centre was built after the war and opened in February 1959.

Once the new church had been opened, the work of Tower Hamlets Mission expanded. For nearly thirty years services were held in the church and work was carried out for those in need of shelter, clothing and food.  By 1985 people were coming to the Day Centre at the Mission with needs far deeper than their obvious ones of physical hunger, cold and homelessness. They had lost roots, family, jobs and real friends. Almost all had health problems: physical or mental or both. Many had been drawn into addictions - drink, drugs, gambling - seeking escape from the traumas and tragedies of their past.

Because so many of those coming to the Mission had addiction problems and needed specialised help, it was clearly not enough to offer just shelter. Approval was given to convert part of the old church into a residential care home. This accommodation was to become known as ‘Charis’ (from the New Testament Greek word for Grace) and initially provided 7 beds for homeless men addicted to alcohol when it was completed on 5 May 1988.  In 1990, further plans were made to extend the care home and by 1992, Charis was a 16 bed unit opened by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton.

Since that time, much work has gone into the actual programme and a Second Stage was set up. More facilities were still needed however,  and in 1996 the old church was demolished and The Terrace was completed and opened in July 1997. The Chapel was also completed to replace the old church, and the Archbishop of Canterbury returned to open all of this on the 11th July 2002.