About us

Island House is a registered charity and community project based in London’s East End, established by the United Reformed Church in 1972. As a well-respected community resource, we provide facilities and services for our partner tenants (Island Advice Centre, Island House Playgroup and Quaystone church), other user groups (e.g. Scouts and exercise classes) as well as running our own community projects in four key areas of Adult Learning, Youth & Family, Public Health and Sport & Leisure. We support hundreds of diverse residents in and around isle of Dogs, with over 300 people accessing Island House every week.

We have always aimed to deliver high quality facilities, services and projects for the promotion of the social, mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing of people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and faiths in the Isle of Dogs and wider Tower Hamlets community. We love making dynamic partnerships with a range of groups and organisations to tackle marginalisation and make a real difference in the lives of ordinary people (although we find most people to be extra-ordinary!).

We have many years’ experience of effective service delivery to a diverse range of users through an assortment of successful projects. ABLE (Adult Basic Learning and Education) is our project offering language and pre-employment training to local disadvantaged people. Until recently our CanDo project had for over ten years delivered £500 grants to grass root local people and organisations for the promotion of healthy living and lifestyles and was praised by Comic Relief after external individual assessment. Our Community Parents Project offers peer support training to provide one-to-one support and group activities to pregnant women and new parents living in Tower Hamlets. Our Health and Wellbeing project helps our older residents to age well, cope with chronic health conditions, reduce isolation and promoting healthy choices through a range of small group activities. Our YOU project has provided weekly dance and holiday clubs for under 18s, and this is in the process of being relaunched. Hundreds of local people have seen their lives and prospects improved over the years through the work of our dedicated local staff.