ONE of London’s oldest charities for the homeless is getting ready to celebrate its 150th anniversary. Providence Row held an open day with a barbecue for the public to show the work they’ve been doing for the past century-and-a-half

ONE of London’s oldest charities for the homeless is getting ready to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Providence Row held an open day with a barbecue (pictured) for the public to show the work they’ve been doing for the past century-and-a-half.

The charity began its work in 1860 among the poor and the rough sleepers in London’s deprived East End with support and practical help, radical at the time.

OPEN DOOR

“Next year we will be our 150th birthday,” explained the charity’s chief Jo Ansell.

“So we opened our doors to show people what we do and to talk to us.”

Today, its work is as vital as it ever was in Victorian London. The charity’s Dellow Centre at Wentworth Street in Whitechapel has 200 people passing through its doors every day, some stopping for breakfast and a shower, others for advice or take part in activities.

Volunteer Momhammed Choudhury is pictured serving visitors at the open day.

The charity for the homeless originally became homeless itself with the coming of the railways.

The small turning called Providence Row off Bishopsgate, where it took its name from, had to make way for the building of London’s Liverpool Street Station in the 1870s.