On Wednesday 24 June, from 12pm to 4pm, the Archway Solidarity Pop-Up will transform Navigators Square into a vital sanctuary of care and mutual aid. For those currently experiencing homelessness or living in precarious housing, simply surviving day-to-day can be an exhausting barrier to accessing help. This grassroots event breaks down those bureaucratic walls by bringing essential services directly to the street level, creating a welcoming, non-judgemental space where unhoused individuals can access the immediate practical support, resources, and human connection they deserve.
Beyond fulfilling basic material needs, the pop-up addresses a severe and escalating danger facing the street community: the rise of highly potent synthetic opioids. With a public health amber alert in effect, those sleeping rough are at an incredibly high risk of experiencing or witnessing fatal overdoses. By embedding peer-led Naloxone training directly into the event, the pop-up empowers unhoused people with life-saving skills. This training recognises them not merely as passive recipients of aid, but as vital first responders who can keep themselves and their peers alive in moments of crisis.
Crucially, the event bridges the gap between vulnerable people and the wider community by bringing Islington’s homeless services and local representatives into the conversation. By facilitating these connections alongside a dedicated community session at 2pm outside Archway Library, the pop-up fosters an environment of genuine solidarity rather than isolation. It provides our unhoused neighbours with a rare, direct platform to be seen and heard by local businesses and residents, cultivating a safer, more compassionate Archway where everyone looks out for one another.
As ever we urgently need your support to run our daily Streets Kitchen’s and Solidarity Hub especially with this extreme hot weather!
If you are in the position to financially assist no matter how small you can by clicking here