Hello from 217 Harrow Road
A community update from St Mungo’s
March 2021
Join us to discuss what happens next at 217 Harrow Road
Sign up here a free information session on the plans for 217 Harrow Road.
This past year has been very difficult for everyone who lives and works along the Harrow Road. As we adjust to very different patterns of daily life, we want to share an update about what we do here at 217 Harrow Road and our hopes for the years to come.
St Mungo’s has been at 217 Harrow Road for over 30 years and we have seen the area undergo many changes. We help some of the most vulnerable people in Westminster to get the support and services they need, providing them with specialist accommodation as a stepping stone to their own home and more secure lives.
This is an important time for St Mungo’s. Our history and commitment to tackling homelessness has demonstrated that we need the best possible facilities and for our services to be delivered by a caring and professional team. We’re working up plans for a new building at 217 Harrow Road that we want to share with you.
Everyone in
The national and local effort here in Westminster to ensure that people who are homeless and sleeping rough can continue to be supported to isolate safely has shown that homelessness need not be inevitable.
Westminster Connects and the local mutual aid groups here along the Harrow Road have worked tirelessly as a valuable, diverse and effective network.
Due to COVID-19 it is not possible to open our doors to say thank you in the way we would have wished, or to share with you more about our work in person.
However, we have created a short community film that tells you about our work at 217 Harrow Road and our plans for the future.
Watch here on our homepage how the team and our residents work together, to make positive changes and more secure futures.
“People who have been out on the streets for more than 20 years, who have never engaged with us, have finally taken up offers of our help. They’ve understood that we are there in their times of need. Because that is our guiding principle: we don’t ever give up.”
Kath, Head of Outreach for St Mungo’s in Westminster on supporting vulnerable people when the full impact of the pandemic hit.
217 Harrow Road is the former home of a pioneering mental health day hospital, St Mary’s, which led the way in the use of talking therapies and community based support and modern mental health services in London.
Moving forwards
Our building at 217 Harrow Road is over half a century old. We want to offer better accommodation for our residents and new flagship services at 217 Harrow Road that will be critical to the ongoing success of our work, right across Westminster and London.
We have ambitious plans to improve the site that will allow us to be even more effective, create new public spaces, and make this part of Harrow Road and the Westway environment work better for everyone.
We will do this through proposals for a new scheme that will see a mix of affordable homes and new facilities to support our work as one of the UK’s leading homelessness charities.
We are working in partnership with Stories, a socially responsible property development company who shares our ambition to deliver true social value within the Harrow Road neighbourhood.
We have started conversations with Westminster City Council and Transport for London to identify ideas to improve the public space around the building and pedestrian connections in the immediate area.
We want to deliver meaningful change that bene ts everyone who lives and works on this stretch of the Harrow Road.
Join one of our virtual consultation sessions to find out more – details overleaf.
Westminster Connects and the local mutual aid groups here along the Harrow Road have worked tirelessly as a valuable, diverse and effective network.
Let's hear from you
In March, we’ll host the first consultation events - everyone is invited to join information sessions on Zoom to hear more about the proposals and to ask questions of the project team.
Due to COVID-19, all consultation will be done in a safe and timely way. For now, we’re planning only virtual events, but we hope to arrange carefully managed meetings when it is safe to do so.
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Wednesday 3 March 2021, 6.30pm – 8.00pm
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Saturday 6 March 2021, 10.00am – 11.30am
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Wednesday 10 March 2021, 6.30pm – 8.00pm
Sign up here on our events page
We want to hear your views on the building, the neighbourhood, the relationship between St Mungo’s and the local community as well as your views and aspirations on the local area.
Share your memories, recollections and observations of the Harrow Road and how you’ve seen it change over time and what your hopes are for the future.
We’d welcome any feedback via email, by sharing comments on our website, through social media or by signing up for email news.
Email: hello@217harrowroad.com
Call: (free of charge) 0808 1961 280