Centre Point - The Centrepoint Charity

The Centrepoint Charity

At 5:30 pm on Friday, January 18, 1974, homeless campaigners (two of whom had obtained jobs with the security firm guarding Centre Point) occupied the building in a protest that the building ought to be used to help London's housing crisis. The occupation lasted only until Sunday January 20 and is often said to have inspired the housing charity Centrepoint, which took its name from the building; this is not, in fact, the case, as the charity had been around for five years prior to this. In fact the charity was named for the fact that its first night shelter was at the centre of the Soho parish. The name co-incidence was accidental, but when it was pointed out to the founders, they were quite pleased that the confusion might raise awareness of the plight of the homeless. Another urban myth surrounding the use of the name was that the subways and pedestrian underpasses beneath the building were popular places for rough sleepers.