Man who built East End’s City Gateway to open up careers is stepping down

The man who has helped people out of poverty in London’s deprived East End with skills programmes to get them into promising careers in the City is leaving the social organisation he’s been running for 13 years.

Eddie Stride is stepping down as chief executive of City Gateway, which helps disadvantaged youngsters and mothers at home to gain skills to improve their job prospects.

He has overseen social change and communities being transformed, by developing a women’s employment skills project, an alternative education programme for school-leavers without qualifications and an apprenticeship scheme with top City companies.

City Gateway expanded under his leadership from small offices near Tower Hill to its new multi-skills centre on the Isle of Dogs opened by Prince Andrew four years ago.

Eddie grew up in east London where his grandfather, the late Rev Eddy Stride, founded the renowned Spitalfields Crypt charity for the homeless in 1965.

City Gateway has grown under Eddie’s leadership to a staff of 200 who mentor and train up to 2,000 men and women a year with an annual turnover of £9 million.

The organisation’s community programmes director Bex White has been appointed interim chief executive to take over from Eddie.