Our Community

The Old Church is an arts and performance space based in St Mary's Old Church (across the road from the big church building). The Old Church offers a unique approach to building community through The Arts. Celebrating the rich heritage of the building it inhabits, it strives to encourage mutual enjoyment of the arts, enable creativity for all, share the diversity of local cultures and challenge perceptions.

To find out more, please visit The Old Church website here. 

Open to all, Second Chance Cafe operates from St Mary's Centre (behind the big church) on Thursdays & Fridays from 11am - 2pm. We serve soups, bread, tea, coffee, and home-baked deserts on a pay-what-you-feel basis, something or nothing. All guests are treated exactly the same. 

The cafe has an active volunteer team of over 50 members. If you'd like to volunteer or donate, you can find out more on their website.

St Mary's is currently creating a Community Garden, a tranquil space for all members of the Church & its various projects, as well as the wider community, to enjoy. We are looking at ways to use the space in a way to ensure a positive environmental & social impact. 

By doing this we hope that it will foster a space where people can connect with others and with nature, and that this will help some of those who feel isolated or suffer with mental health issues. 

If you would like to get involved, please email [email protected]

This organisation meets on a weekly basis at St Mary's Centre to offer advice and support to those who are from outside the EU. 

A number of our church members are involved in supporting this work on a voluntary basis. 

To find out more, or if you'd like to volunteer, please visit their website.

Hackney is the second most deprived borough in England, and the Hackney Foodbank is an essential resource giving a minimum of three days of emergency food and support to local people in crisis. 

We host the Foodbank at St Mary's New (big) Church every Thursday from 12 - 2.30pm. It is partly staffed with volunteers from our congregation. 

For more information, please visit their website. 

Kehillah North London is a progressive Jewish community based in Stoke Newington that congregates regularly at St Mary's. They are an intergenerational, diverse community that is welcoming to all who want to experience Judaism in a range of ways - whether secular, religious, historical, cultural, or for Jewish community. 

For more information, please visit their website.

St Mary's Church of England Primary School is an inspiring and creative school which fosters a love of learning as well as developing skills for life. It strives to enhance every child's moral, spiritual, intellectual, social and physical well-being and celebrate every child's gifts. As a faith school it holds love at the centre of all it does. This and respect, courage, truth and hope reflect the ethos of the school.

 "Through God's love, we strive to be the best we can be."

Through the ALMA organisation, which links Anglican churches in Angola and Mozambique with the Diocese of London, St Mary's is connected with our brothers and sisters of the Church of the Epifania in Tete, Mozambique. St Mary's has named the lady chapel the Epiphany Chapel in honour of our link. We have helped to financially support the Church of the Epifania and most recently a delegation from St Mary's travelled to Tete to celebrate the dedication of their new church building.