About us
We are a health and wellbeing charity based in Upper Holloway in Islington. We empower people to change their lives for the better. Our services promote mental and physical health and wellbeing and increase social inclusion. We are experts in providing culturally competent services and bilingual support.
Our Vision
Strong communities where all people have good health, resilience, and opportunity
Our Mission
To empower individuals and communities facing systemic and intersectional barriers by delivering accessible, inclusive, trauma-informed, and person-centred support tailored to their unique needs.
Why we Exist
Manor Gardens Welfare Trust is rooted in the heart of Islington, one of London’s most diverse boroughs. Despite its vibrancy, Islington faces significant challenges, ranking as the sixth most deprived in London, with pronounced disparities in income, health, and life expectancy. In Islington, the intersections of disadvantage are complex, with ethnic background, income, and health inequalities interlinked. For decades, Manor Gardens has recognised and addressed these issues, providing culturally competent, multilingual support to meet the needs of our community
Our Values
Our work is grounded in these core values:
- Resilience – building strength and adaptability to overcome challenges.
- Inclusivity – ensuring everyone feels valued and included, respecting diverse backgrounds.
- Empowerment – supporting individuals to gain knowledge, skills, and confidence.
- Teamwork – collaborating with trust and support to achieve shared goals.
Our history
The Manor Gardens Welfare Trust has had a long and productive history serving the residents of North Islington since 1913.
We were founded as The North Islington Infant Welfare Centre and School for Mothers to provide an urgent need for free healthcare for children and education for mothers. At that time over 1 in 10 children died before their first birthday in Islington. Mothers living in extreme poverty didn’t know how best to feed and care for their babies so Manor Gardens helped them learn what foods to give them and carried out essential health checks.
Promoting health and wellbeing has been at the heart of the services we provide ever since. We remained independent when the NHS was created in 1948, allowing us to adjust our work quickly to focus on need.
Our founder was Florence Keen, a Highgate resident who was committed to public service and had a wide circle of influential and wealthy friends. Together they raised funds to buy the buildings we still own today and persuaded Elizabeth the Queen Mother to be our Patron till she died. The healthcare they made possible saved the lives of many children.
We’re very proud of our history and on our centenary in 2013 we received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to pull together our fascinating archive of photos and artefacts to preserve it for the future.
Visit our Exhibition
100 Years of Community Healthcare: from Infant Welfare to Community Wellbeing
As part of our centenary project we created an exhibition of our photographs and archives which can now be viewed my members of the public. It gives a playful and informative insight into our unique organisation, looking at how our attitudes to children, health and voluntary work have changed over the last century. It explores our pioneering approach to community healthcare including:
- teaching mothers on baby wards
- sunlight treatment
- exercise classes
- more recently, the provision of community mental health and wellbeing services
Volunteers curated the exhibition, which draws on Manor Gardens’ extensive archive, including over 500 photographs, and an oral history project of people involved with the centre.
Where: 6-9 Manor Gardens, London N7 8LA
When: Open during office hours, contact us to arrange a visit