Our story starts in 1915, when Reverend Phillip 'Tubby’ Clayton was sent to Poperinge in Belgium on the Ypres Salient, to set up a rest house for troops fighting in the trenches in First World War. The rest house was named Talbot House in honour of a soldier who had been killed earlier in the year. Talbot House soon became known by its initial’s TH and then, in the radio signallers’ parlance of the day - as Toc H. It opened on 11th Dec 1915.

 

When Soldiers came back from the war they wanted to build on this heritage, and the values formed in the early years. Many hundreds of groups were established across the world in Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, India, the Caribbean and Canada as well as a significant presence across Europe and particularly the UK. 

 

Toc H was instrumental in the formation of Samaritans and the Blood Transfusion service where our local networks provided the foundation for volunteers and even funding in the early days. 

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In recent times groups have closed and the Covid Pandemic accelerated group closure. As part of an organisational review, Toc H trustees committed themselves to a new model of working keeping the best of Toc H but linking it to a social enterprise model to maintain sustainability.

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