From the building’s beginnings as a church in 1905 to our monthly social lunches connecting older adults, below are some of the key involvements we have had with the Haringey community over the past 50 years.
1905: Beginnings as a Church
In 1905 the building was completed as The New Wesleyan Church, this article from The Times Newspaper details that the cost of the building and site came to a total of £12,000. In 1954, the roof of the building was renovated for a total of £89 and 7 Shillings, paid in weekly £1 instalments to the builder. And then in 2020 we underwent our £5,000,000 full renovation to bring us to the building we know and love today.
Our building, 1905
The Times Newspaper, 1905
Social Lunch: Then and Now
1986: Following a grant from the Social Services Sub-Committee, Jacksons Lane opened the Pensioners Lunch Club a social group for over 55’s to meet for a meal and socialising.
The grant enabled us to subsidise the 60p per meal that pensioners each paid. The club started on July 1st, and ran two days a week at first – which quickly became 4 days a week.
2025: Entertainment forms the basis of Social Lunch, now a much-anticipated monthly event happens on the last Tuesday of every month. Fabulous acts grace the stage alongside a hot meal, and guests themselves also perform to their peers. The event costs £5 for cabaret-style entertainment and a two course meal.
Social Lunch 2024
1980s: Space for Queer Women
A valuable project at Bruce Castle Museum is dedicated to memorializing the contributions of LGBTQIA+ community activists from the global majority in the late 20th century.
Within it we found gorgeous posters signalling a ‘Haringey Lesbian Do’ and a Lesbian Multi-Cultural Cabaret and Social – both hosted here at Jacksons Lane in the final year of the 80s.
On purple paper, a favourable accessibility assessment of the building written by Sisters Against Disablement, a feminist group that radically welcomed woman of all sexual orientations.
Christmas Day at Jacksons Lane
Our flagship event celebrated its own 50th anniversary in 2024, welcoming 100 guests into the building on Christmas Day for a hot meal, entertainment and gift giving. Staffed by a team of dedicated volunteers it is a key day in our calendar to bring together members of our community who would otherwise be alone at Christmas.
Since 2021 we have also incorporated our hamper delivery, allowing another 200 members of the community to receive a hamper of lunch and a gift.
Christmas Day event 2024.
Christmas Day Event 1990.
As we celebrate our 50th anniversary we are looking forward to continuing our work with our local communities and expanding our reach to as many Haringey residents as possible.
If you would like to get involved with any of our outreach activities you can contact [email protected].
We would like to extend our thanks to Bruce Castle Museum for access to archive materials documenting the history of our community.
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Our Annual Review 25/26
Jacksons Lane’s Annual Review looks back on a year of performances, projects and people, and the stories that lie behind the numbers. Our Co-Director, Hannah Cox, reflects on what 50 years of community and connection means, and looks ahead to what comes next.
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