You may have seen in the last week that the various lines of the London Overground have been named – each celebrating part of London’s history.
One of those lines, which runs from Stratford to Richmond via Clapham Junction, is now called the Mildmay line.
As well as being a piece of London’s history, it’s also part of ours.
The name was chosen in honour of a small charitable hospital in Shoreditch – Mildmay Mission Hospital – which dates back to the 1860s and played a vital role during the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980s.
Princess Diana famously visited patients there, a total of 17 times, playing a huge role in tackling the stigma so many faced and helping people understand the truth about the spread of HIV.
When we transformed that part of Shoreditch in the early-to-mid 2010s, with a new development of social and private homes across seven blocks, we also incorporated the Shoreditch Tabernacle Baptist Church and a brand new, purpose-built Mildmay Mission Hospital within the footprint of its historic predecessor.
It opened its doors in September 2014, with two inpatient wards named after their founders William Pennefather and his wife Catherine. Prince Harry officially opened the new hospital in December 2015, before returning to cut the cake to mark 150 years of Mildmay in 2016.
In 2020, Mildmay expanded its work and began providing rehabilitative healthcare for people who are homeless or rough-sleeping and recuperating from illness or injury. It subsequently introduced the REBUILD Pathway which offers inpatient post-detox, recovery focused care, as well as a Neuro 2B Pathway, which is specialist neurorehabilitation for patients after their immediate medical and surgical needs are met.
Director of development, Seumais ONeill, said:
“We are proud to have played our small role in the amazing history of this iconic hospital. It has served so many Londoners with such acute needs, many of whom faced stigma and isolation beyond Mildmay’s walls. The naming of a London Overground line in its honour is well-deserved recognition for everything Mildmays and its staff have done for the capital.”
