Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Radical Catholic group setting up night shelter & resource centre for migrants in Mattison Road

Radical Christian Catholic Worker movement group, London Catholic worker have been given the disused St Augustine's church and the house next door at 49 Mattison Road to use for 2 years. As a key part of their plan, they aim to create a night shelter providing overnight accommodation for up to 30 destitute refugees.

The Catholic Worker describe themselves as follows:

Catholic, ecumenical, pacifist, communitarian and anarchist in the spirit of gentle personalism. Our work in London is now made up by two houses of hospitality, a community café and a drop-in soup kitchen, and continue to focus our resistance on the 'war on terror', British nuclear weapons and the arms.

The night shelter is apparently due to open very soon and the group are spending time cleaning and decorating to prepare the space. There will be a chance to meet those involved and see the space on a forthcoming work day Saturday July 24th between 10am and 4pm. Access via 49 Mattison Road, next to the church.

Visits can be arranged on other days via londoncatholicworker@yahoo.co.uk.

There are also plans to use the space during the day as "a resource centre and networking space in London for migrants and other activists". The next meeting for looking at this aspect of the project is on Sunday July 25th at LARC, 62 Fieldgate ST, Whitechapel, E1 1ES.

For those wanting to offer support, the organisation has circulated the following request:
We rely totally on voluntary donations in cash and in kind, and volunteers, for our work. So if you have anything that is surplus to what you need, please think of us. and also please forward this around to anyone you think might be willing and able to help us. We need basically everything you might need to furnish and equip a house, plus office stuff. AND, in addition, we will be providing overnight accommodation for up to 30 destitute refugees. So we will need extra stuff, especially mattresses and bedding, also fridges/freezers.

Money is always needed too, of course!

We also need volunteers for all aspects of the work, 'front line' and support roles like admin, book keeping and organising. Especially we are always looking for people who want to commit to the full time live-in life and work of community, hospitality and resistance that is the Catholic Worker!

thanks

All at London Catholic Worker
tel: 020 7249 0041

FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Toiletries,
household cleaning materials
Food - non-perishable and regular donations of fresh food
Bedding
Mattresses & Beds
Desks
Shelves
Wardrobes
Computers
computer printers
chairs
sofas
telephones
storage boxes
TV
DVD / video players
DVDs / videos
A4 paper & notebooks
lamps and shades
pens etc
tools
bike locks and parts
light bulbs
clothes (mainly mens, but also womens)


Kitchen equipment

Cups
Plates
Bowls
Pots / pans
Industrial cooker
Washing machine
Fridge freezer
Pressure cooker
Tables & chairs
Microwave
Kettles
Water boilers / urns
Bread bins
Knives chopping boards (inc. colour coded)

Etc . etc .. Etc ..

Tags for Forum Posts: Harringay's churches, St Augustine's Church, london catholic worker

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kit on July 24, 2010 at 16:22
It's all very exciting; lots of LCW volunteers are hard at work clearing out the church. Ciaron showed us round and reiterated the point about the project providing hot food and a bed for the night for homeless and destitute refugees. It won't target people with drug or mental health issues, leaving that work to more specialist agencies. Bruce Kent suggested the Mattison Road church to LCW as a potential site for this initiative. The building is fabulous, but has been derelict for a couple of years. The LCW team is keen to get the people of Harringay behind the project, and is sensitive to local concerns. It all looks and sounds very impressive. Definitely worth visiting, once things are straightened out.
Permalink Reply by Hugh on July 24, 2010 at 17:05
Here are some pics from my visit. (Excuse the artifacts in the corners. My lens flareguard was loose and obstructing the view):








The plan is to use the room in the second to last picture. The main part of the church will apparently remain as it is.


Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on July 24, 2010 at 19:18
Sounds like this interesting project is taking careful steps to start-off on the right foot with everyone around. Though: "Apparently there have been some such speculative rumours going around!" (OAE link above).

As you know, Eddie, this is not unusual. Which is sometimes where - as I've suggested before - a Neighbourhood Agreement may help.
james walshPermalink Reply by james walsh on July 24, 2010 at 19:35
Thanks for the pics
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on July 25, 2010 at 8:58
Had no idea the interior was so interesting
Permalink Reply by Hugh on July 27, 2010 at 13:43
We've just been followed by London Catholic Worker on Twitter, should anyone else want to know so they can connect that way.
Permalink Reply by Hugh on March 25, 2019 at 0:30

Just came across this article from the London North Mercury And Crouch End Observer, March 17 1900.


And to add a bit of history to that, Mattison Road church, later renamed Harringay church, opened in 1891 as an iron tabernacle (a pre-fabricated timber framed structure clad with corrugated iron which could quickly be assembled from a kit to provide a building until a more permanent structure could be constructed). The tabernacle was replaced by the building in the article above. In 1903 membership was so high that Mattison Road was described as the chief Primitive Methodist church in London. The church closed in 1963 and became a Roman Catholic church.

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