Dockhead was the setting for some significant developments in
clubwork. As well as the pioneering
boys' work undertaken by
Oxford in Bermondsey,
Time and Talents also did interesting work with girls and, significantly, with
mixed groups. The first Dockhead club run by
Time and Talents was established in a disused warehouse in 1903 at
1 Halfpenny Avenue (close to the Oxford in Bermondsey club for boys). They later moved to a shop in Jamaica Road, and then
to an old public house in George Row - The White Hart. The area around
them was condemned as unfit for human habitation - and as part of the
rebuilding effort Time and Talents was offered a site to build a large,
purpose-built club. The new Dockhead Club (on the corner of George Row and
Abbey Street) opened in 1931 and had a large hall, club rooms, library, chapel,
protected roof playground and five rooms for residents. The work included girls
groups, cub and scout packs, and, crucially, mixed club work. The last took the
form of the 50/50 club (the name was decided through a vote). It opened in the
autumn of 1931 and was an experiment championed by the then warden, Honoria
Harford. Another key figure in the development of clubwork was
E. Lesley Sewell (1901-1975).
