The Beehive

The Beehive is a business born out of a passion for community. When Annie Macpherson, the founder of Bethnal Green Mission Church, started work in BG in the 1860s, she sought to offer hope, love and hospitality to those living in poverty and on the margins of society. Check out Oxford House and St Margaret’s House, also part of this Victorian missionary zeal.

Annie developed a ‘Home of Industry’, where homeless children and women could find shelter, warmth, food and drink, as well as an opportunity to learn new skills. Her building was known locally as ‘The Beehive’, a place of ‘industry’ that became a noted feature of Bethnal Green Road, where locals could encounter a welcoming and hospitable community.

The original mission building was sold a couple of years ago and redeveloped into a block of flats (or should I say, appartments) with the church and a new not-for-profit café part of the deal. .

The church wants to build on this amazing legacy – hence their strapline ‘Coffee and Industry. What’s not to like?

images:  the Beehive