Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a building in Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, and is the home to a charity of the same name. It works to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on working towards a future without poverty.
It was the first university-affiliated institution of the world-wide Settlement movement; a reformist social agenda that strove to get the rich and poor to live more closely together in an interdependent community. Founded by Canon Samuel Barnett and Henrietta in 1884 on Commercial Street, it was named in memory of their friend and fellow reformer, Oxford historian Arnold Toynbee, who had died the previous year. Built specifically for the charity as a centre for social reform, it remains just as active today.
The original building was designed by Elijah Hoole in vicarage-gothic style. The building was designated a Grade II listed building in 1973. It was adjacent to the church of St Jude, Whitechapel, which is no longer there, and was on the site of a disused industrial school.
The original structure was built as the first university settlement house of the settlement movement. Students from Oxford and Cambridge University lived there, to undertake social work in the deprived areas of the East End. By 1900 there were over 100 settlements in the United States and across the UK. and in 1911 the leaders of the social settlement movement founded the National Federation of Settlements.
Today, Toynbee Hall provides a range of programmes and activities. Broadly broken down into: youth, the elderly, financial inclusion, debt, advice, free legal advice and community engagement.
Each year over 400 volunteers help to deliver the charity’s services.
In 2007 the Toynbee Studios opened in part of the building offering dance and media studios and a theatre.
Coordinates: 51°30′58″N 0°4′21″W / 51.51611°N 0.07250°W
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