Time and Talents Victorian Bermondsey was a Dickensian nightmare.
The area was a bustling industrial complex, where over five thousand young women were employed in dire conditions in dangerous and overcrowded factories.
Aware of the plight of these girls, Mina Goldlock and her friends from the Young Women's Christian Association decided to reach out to those who were less fortunate in life and began to visit the factories where they talked, sang hymns and distributed flowers to the bemused workers.
In 1899, the Time & Talents Association was opened in Bermondsey Street and provided a lively centre where singing, basketwork, knitting and sewing were taught.
Three decades later, it moved to Abbey Street where spacious new premises allowed it to expand its range of clubs and services.
The building was so badly damaged in the war, however, that it was forced to close in 1956 and only re-opened after 24 years when the association moved to its current location in Rotherhithe. It developed here into a vibrant neighbourhood centre offering a huge range of activities from local history workshops to tai chi.
Although conditions today are very different, Mina Gollock's desire to nurture the skills and abilities of all age groups in the community lives on to this day. |