Our history

London, a vibrant and diverse city, is home to 8.9 million people. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but there are also areas with high levels of deprivation, in particular in parts of East London and our home of South London. As with other global cities, unequal health outcomes persist, and life expectancy varies widely across the city.

Our boroughs

Lambeth and Southwark, in the heart of the capital and where our home is, are two densely populated boroughs. They cover 59 square kilometres, an area half the size of Paris or exactly the size of Manhattan. The boroughs have a joint population larger than that of Manchester, though in half of the space.

They are vibrant and have a rich social and ethnic mix. The proportion of Black residents is amongst the highest in the country, with a long established Caribbean community. Our boroughs are also home to more recent migrants from Africa, Europe and Latin America.

They are also places with stark and pervasive inequality. As powerfully demonstrated in Charles Booth’s work in the late 19^th century, poverty and wealth have co-existed in South London for hundreds of years. Londoners with varying degrees of prosperity and opportunity have mixed within small neighbourhoods for many generations.

A place of pioneers and change-makers

At the same time, our home has also been at the centre of ground-breaking social reforms and innovations to reduce these health inequalities.

As far back as 1173, some of the most vulnerable people in the city could find healthcare south of the river at St Thomas’ Hospital, which was initially run by religious institutions and has been supported by benefactors and philanthropic donations throughout its history.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale’s far-sighted reforms, which set new standards of modern healthcare, also have their roots in South London. In 1860, Florence established the first professional nursing school in the world at St Thomas’ Hospital. From pioneering the role of data in health, to realising that the hospital environment and diet can impact health and recovery, she left an indelible imprint.

A contribution to the sanitary history of the British army during the late war with Russia. Attribution: Wellcome Collection, 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Ada Salter

Social reform experiments in South London in the early 20^th century focused on investing in a healthier society by improving the social and economic determinants of health. For example in 1922, Ada Salter became the first female mayor of Bermondsey, in Southwark. She was best known for setting up the ‘Beautification Committee’. This aimed to turn the area into a garden city by planting trees on the new estates and streets. Salter recognised that improving the environment was a key part of improving people’s lives.

Peckham Experiment

Also south of the Thames, in Peckham, the Pioneer Health Centre was the home of the Peckham Experiment. This ran from 1926 to 1950, and was a purpose-built centre. Here, doctors observed families socially interacting. The experiment aimed to highlight the role that the environment plays in improving health, challenging the prevailing notion of health as ‘the absence of disease’.

These initiatives and reforms have had an impact not only on our capital but across the world. It’s a legacy we and our partners aim to build on today.

The Homestead. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Pioneer Health Foundation. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Philanthropy and its impact on health

The health issues that pervaded London during the 17^th and 18^th centuries prompted philanthropists and benefactors to fund healthcare for those in greatest need. They also pioneered changes to the environment to help improve the health of people across the capital.

Our own endowment formed over hundreds of years. Some of our donations and legacies date back to the 16^th century, when Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, re-opened and endowed St Thomas’ Hospital after the Reformation.

The NHS

When the NHS was formed in 1948, hospital funding was taken on by the government. Core healthcare services were now provided to all citizens free at the point of care.

However, the advent of the NHS did not solve the underlying issues of unequal health outcomes, particularly in densely populated cities such as London. Today, along with continuing to enhance experiences in healthcare, independent endowments such as ours seek to have the greatest possible impact by addressing these inequalities head on.