Hillside Clubhouse was funded by Islington Giving’s Community Panel (June-Oct 2025). Rona, a panel member and one of our Alumni Storytellers, visited the clubhouse to find out more about the difference it is making for people experiencing mental health challenges.
Hillside Clubhouse is an unobtrusive building on North Road in Islington, which serves as a haven for adults who are struggling with a variety of mental health challenges. The clubhouse started as an offshoot of St. Mungo’s and opened 25 years ago.
There are employment support teams within Community Mental Health Teams, Talking Therapies, and a support team for anyone who falls outside of those two groups. The teams offer one to one casework to try to remove employment barriers. They also offer signposting to other organisations where appropriate.
The clubhouse also offers the opportunity for people to get involved with the running of the organisation itself, as well as various community projects which enable people to develop new skills and increase their confidence levels.
The clubhouse has also provided a fresh start for people who have become socially isolated due to their mental ill health challenges by giving them a chance to socialise with others in similar situations, which has in turn empowered them to renew their own friendships which might have been damaged by their mental health challenges.
Finbar Preston, manager of Hillside Clubhouse, tells us that:
“Since receiving your grant, we have been able to expand the number of projects we have been able to offer. This grant has really given us an opportunity to open up the number of projects that we do, and therefore allows people to engage in a number of different disciplines, and to identify and build a more diverse set of skills”.
They have also recently commenced a social media project which trains participants in graphic design and communication skills. They are also working with another charity, St Giles, to provide a low cost pantry for local people struggling with food costs.
I also met Kevin Tomlin, who runs the creative projects. Currently the service users are in the process of creating a memorial quilt to honour the memory of Daniella, one of Hillside’s mentors who died in 2023. When she died her family donated her sewing materials to Hillside Clubhouse, as she was an avid quilter.
The concept behind the project is meant to “create something beautiful through grief”. The project is carried out in partnership with Highgate Cemetery. They are putting together an exhibition on “creating beauty from grief” which is due to be shown in May 2027. The cemetery was recently awarded money from the National Lottery to build an arts centre, and this exhibition is due to be one of the many attractions in the new arts centre.
The service users have been working on the memorial quilt for 2.5 years and the project is close to completion.
“The clubhouse has also provided a fresh start for people who have become socially isolated due to their mental ill health challenges by giving them a chance to socialise with others in similar situations, which has in turn empowered them to renew their own friendships which might have been damaged by their mental health challenges.”
I also met service user Venetia, who has been at the clubhouse for just over a year. After she reached a point in her recovery where she wanted to engage with others again, she started volunteering once weekly just to ease herself into the process, before slowly building up the frequency. She has also engaged in external outings with Hillside.
She says that being at Hillside has helped her to build her confidence by “being in a community of kind, compassionate people”, and “creatively like minded people.” She says it’s been a wonderful resource and does not know where she would be without it.
Hopefully resources such as Hillside Clubhouse can carry on for another 25 years and beyond, for as long as there is a need for them.
Written by Rona
Rona is a former member of Islington Giving’s Community Panel (June-Oct 2025), and a member of the Islington Giving Alumni and Alumni Storytellers.
