My Cultural Life - London

“I don’t know of any parish church in England more beautiful, more important and more devoted to good work”. Bill Bryson

The month is December of 2005 although I can’t quite remember the actual date; I am in the Crypt of St. Martins in the Fields. Opposite me is a man who has just told me that he wants to commit suicide. We are sitting in the café and I am enjoying (or trying to enjoy) a coffee. The troubled gentleman opposite me has three coffees - all of which are black. 

He goes on to tell me that he was born and raised in Bridgend in Wales just a stone throw away from Cardiff. By his account it seems that his upbringing was fairly normal until his parents left the relatively comfortable life they had there to move to the richer and more prosperous Chepstow.

“I grew up without furniture just so that my parents could say they lived in Chepstow” he laments, his hands shaking as reaches for his coffee.

The man goes on to tell me how his parents were cold people, obsessed with status and blind to the troubles of their son's formative years. Their rejection of him would see the man end up living in London though in what circumstances I do not ask.

However, how he ended up at St. Martins is less of a mystery. The Parish church has long been a refuge for those in serious need of help and I need only look at the face of one of the church’s security guards to know that he has seen this all before. Yet caring comes naturally to a place so steeped in history.

The connection, as it has come to be called, dates as far back as far as 1536 when Henry VIII ordered the new parish of the church to be used as a refuge for plague victims in order that they would not be carried outside his palace in Whitehall. Over a century and a half later, the church school was one of the first to offer free education.
 
Later, during the First World War the crypt of St. Martins would  become a drop off point for soldiers who were about to be sent to France. Today the connection supports over 6’500 people across London and maintains the largest day care centre in the city for the homeless -A fact that embarrasses the Labour Government despite the relative successes of the 2002 Homelessness Act.

Now St. Martins finds itself in one of the most significant periods of its history. Since January 2006, work has ongoing on a massive renewal project kick which is currently at the first stage of completion. The renewal promises a unique blend of restoration and expansion in every sense of the word.

The complex mix of buildings that make up the site will be unified and refurbished whilst the underground crypt is set to be enlarged considerably. The most exciting features will be a stunning glass entrance pavilion and a central light well will be prominent features in the new design. The amount of work going on is too extensive to detail here - this is really everything that can be crammed into a nutshell.

But what makes the church so special? Indeed, St. Martins has not been without controversy after St. Paul’s saw fit to publicly criticize the National Lottery Fund’s decision to award the church 15.35 million to the church.

Yet, if you put all the countless concerts, jazz nights, functions and services next to the church’s work with the homeless and especially their work with the local Chinese community then it is easier to understand why the church was chosen over St. Pauls to be the beneficiary’s of the lottery grant. The Rev Nicholas Holtam of the church has said

“There is more to St. Martins than meets the eye and many of our activities took place in spaces, which failed those whom we serve. At the beginning of the 21st century, doing nothing was not an option.”

Holtom’s attitude is of marked importance, it is such a desire to improve St. Martin’s capacity that makes the church special and ultimately makes St. Paul’s criticism unjust.

Indeed, It is hardly surprising, therefore that a score of public figures are throwing weight behind the appeal, by inscribing 12 x 15cms hand-made clear glass panes sharing their written or drawn message for the Renewal Project. Members of the public who make a contribution to the appeal by sponsoring a pane of glass via the website www.givelight.smitf.org will have the opportunity to win, in a random draw, the celebrity pane featured in the window on which they choose to sponsor their own pane. The glass itself is taken from the old church window of the parish itself and for many is an important part of the church’s history.

It is December 2005 again, and the man with the three black coffees gets up to leave. Since we last left him he has discovered a handful of ten pound notes in his pocket that he previously thought were missing. His tone has changed after our conversation and I feel there is some hope for him as he leaves though this is not to say that I was very much help. But having a place to come and be spoken to, no matter who it is, is half the battle and there are precious few places of this kind. Indeed, It is a place where you know your money will go to a good cause and if you are thinking of giving money to a charity this year, than give it to St. Martins because you will see the benefits of any donation you make.

Ultimately what strikes me most about St. Martins is that whilst so many people will go to St. Martins to enjoy a concert or buy a souvenir from the gift shop its existence can mean the difference between life and death for so many people. How many other great heritage institutions can honestly say that? To this the answer is simple – not many, and this, is why St. Martins is important to me.