Category: Blogs

Is online enough?

By Elizabeth Archer, Head of Service Design and Delivery at Toynbee Hall

Bee presenting at Community Research findings launch

“If I had a smartphone and Wifi…”: A call for digital inclusion

Bee is a member of Toynbee Hall’s Community Centre. She is also one of our community researchers taking action to improve safety and togetherness in Tower Hamlets. In this blog, Bee talks about her difficulties with data limits, what has helped her to get connected online, and learns from one of her friends who doesn’t…
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Gaps in support for self-employed

“I can’t afford to stay at home”: Gaps in support for the self-employed

Anwar lives in Tower Hamlets with his wife and two children. His first priority is supporting his family, and he works hard to make sure they have enough income to cover costs. Up until the crisis started he was managing by working as a self-employed Uber driver, but this work stopped suddenly with lockdown, throwing…
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eports of domestic and financial abuse likely to rise once lockdown restrictions are lifted

Reports of domestic and financial abuse likely to rise once lockdown restrictions are lifted

A blog by Necla Bakirci, Quality Assurance Manager for Debt Free London Being confined to home because of coronavirus is difficult for everyone and the effect of this on people’s finances are serious for many, but it is becoming a real nightmare for a number of people who are suffering or at risk of abusive…
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London aerial view with Tower Bridge, UK

Adapting to the new reality: insights from East London

Jim Minton reflects on how we’re adapting to the current sitaution and what more can be done to address the needs emerging in this crisis. All of us are facing anxiety, fear and dislocation, particularly those of us who were already facing hardship. Communities, the local authority, charities and others have responded urgently and collectively…
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Community Centred – our journey to a community led service

Our Head of Services, Elizabeth Archer, introduces our new blog series about what we’ve learnt about working with the people who use our spaces and support to design and deliver services. “I’m really proud that I get the honour of deciding who manages the centre, and I get a say in what happens here. I…
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Big Energy Saving Week 2020

Big Energy Saving Week 2020

As part of a national campaign by Citizens Advice to help people cut their energy bills, Ripon Ray, Quality Assurance Officer for Debt Free London, shares a few simple tips on how to save money on your energy bills. January 20th – 24th 2020 is Big Energy Saving Week, a national campaign by Citizens Advice…
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Get Financially Fit in 2020

Get #FinanciallyFit in 2020

By Matt Dronfield, Head of Debt Free London Debt Free London is London’s free face-to-face debt advice service, led by Toynbee Hall, which helps over 24,000 Londoners with their debt and money problems each year. Our trained and accredited advisors are based across 26 partner debt charities and can help with all types of money worries…
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Community Safety Research Group workshop

Researching with and alongside the community: Participatory Action Research (PAR) in action

By Farjana Karim. At Toynbee Hall we try to ensure that people and communities have the biggest say in shaping the services we provide, and also the issues we research and campaign on. A central aspect to our approach is supporting those with lived experience to share their expertise, in their own words, and working…
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To solve poverty, we must tackle the climate crisis.

London Challenge Poverty Week: Solve poverty to tackle the climate crisis

Joan Grant is an active member of the Toynbee Hall community. Joan has trained to be a Community Money Mentor and is one of the Expert by Experience contributors to our programme with Fair by Design.

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