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We offer daily services and a cultural programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate
Saturday 5 July, from 11am
Pride Party in the courtyard, garden and church. Street food, bar, drag DJ sets, face-painting and craft stall. And quiet space for contemplation in the church.
Sunday 13 July at 3pm in the Southwood Garden
Join St James’s Piccadilly Music Scholars for a summer afternoon of music and refreshment as they raise essential funds for their annual summer tour.
St James’s hosts inclusive services and a cultural programme. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate.
St James’s is a place to explore, reflect, pray, and support all who are in need. We are a Church of England parish in the Anglican Communion.
We host a year-round creative programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word.
We offer hospitality to people going through homelessness and speak out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
St James’s strives to advocate for earth justice and to develop deeper connections with nature.
We aspire to be a home where everyone can belong. We’re known locally and globally for our unique history and beauty, as well as faith in action, creativity and the arts, and a commitment to social and environmental justice.
We strive to be a Eucharist-centred, diverse and inclusive Christian community promoting life in abundance, wellbeing and dignity for all.
St James’s Piccadilly has been at the heart of its community since 1684. We invite you to play your part in securing this historic place for generations to come.
The work of St James’s, it costs us £5,000 per day to enable us to keep our doors open to all who need us.
A reimagined St James’s realised. A redesigned garden, courtyard and new building capacity—all fully accessible— will provide beautiful spaces for all as well as improving our environmental performance.
Whether shooting a blockbuster TV series or creating a unique corporate event, every hire at St James’s helps our works within the community.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
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Robin Campbell reflects on attending the Churches Homelessness Support Gathering, where churches, volunteers, and outreach groups came together to share insights, deepen their understanding of homelessness and trauma, and explore how collaboration and compassion can drive meaningful, long-term change.
On Wednesday 30th April, myself and a few volunteers from both Feast and Sunday Breakfast attended Churches Homelessness Support Gathering – Dioceses of Southwark and London held at St Mark’s Church in Kennington, an annual conference hosted by Compassionate Communities. The event brought together churches, outreach services and volunteers to explore how meaningful, structural change to end homelessness can be achieved through collaboration.
Throughout the day, we heard from speakers who unpacked the realities of trauma and its lasting impact on people experiencing homelessness. One quote stood out for me:
“Every time I become homeless, it’s traumatic … and it doesn’t get any better either.”
It was an important reminder that homelessness isn’t a single event—it’s often a recurring experience rooted in deep systemic failures. We were also reminded that homelessness isn’t just about housing—it’s about broken support systems, histories of harm, and the exclusion of marginalised groups in society.
One of the most valuable parts of the day for me was connecting with other churches and community groups working in the Westminster area. There was a shared sense that while no one organisation can end homelessness alone, progress becomes possible when we coordinate efforts, share knowledge, and stay committed to change at both local and policy levels.
Below are some reflections from volunteers who came to the event:
Vân Dang (volunteers at Sunday Breakfast Club at St James’s):
“The Churches and Homelessness Support Gathering deepened my understanding of the complex factors contributing to homelessness, including its root causes and the trauma experienced by those affected. It also highlighted the small but meaningful ways in which I and many other volunteers can contribute. It also prompted me to reflect on the broader societal and economic structures at play and helped me better grasp where we are in the collective effort to end homelessness. Last but not least, it was a great experience meeting and getting to know other great minds working in the field and learn from each other.”
Patrick Wood (volunteers at Feast at St James’s):
“I found this event to be interesting and useful. Lisa Moodie, CEO of Robes, gave an exceptionally clear talk about trauma – what it is, how it can be caused, how much of an influence it can have in leading people to become homeless, and then how homelessness itself can keep on making it worse. She also pointed out some things to notice when someone’s behaviour is being affected by trauma. Since 94% of people facing homelessness have experienced trauma, it’s good for us to be more aware.
One of the other important themes brought out by Pam Orchard (CEO of Connections at St Martin-In-The -Fields), was the importance of churches and other organisations connecting up with each other as much as possible, so that their work with people experiencing homelessness can complement what others are doing locally, and therefore maximise our impact in combination. In Westminster, we have three times, and in some cases 20 times more people experiencing homelessness than any other London Borough. So as we all know, the need here is huge and it can often feel that as a volunteer we are powerless to do anything that really helps the situation. So I found it reassuring to hear from Pam (who is responsible for a staff team of 80 professionals), that the role played by volunteers simply talking and getting to know people experiencing homelessness is especially valuable because we are the ones who can ‘look at the person, not the problems’.”
We left the event with practical insights, renewed focus, and some tough but important questions about how we, as a faith community, can do more than offer support—we can push for lasting change.
If you would like to get involved with volunteering with the food outreach projects at St James’s which support people going through homelessness, please visit our volunteering page to learn more https://www.sjp.org.uk/volunteer-with-us/ and find a link to the application forms for Feast and Sunday Breakfast Club.
