Nitazenes: Tower Hamlets rough sleepers report panic about new synthetic opioids hidden in drugs
A climate of fear has taken over Tower Hamlets’ community of rough sleepers, with nearly everyone saying they’ve lost friends
Read more
News
Read the latest news about social care, from education, health care, religion and spiritual provision, to welfare services for the poor, the disabled and the vulnerable.
Mayor reinstates funding to local food banks following Slice investigation
After an investigation by the Slice revealed that Tower Hamlets’ funding to its Food Hub had been drastically cut overnight,
Read more![Orange silhouettes of a rough sleeper, disabled person and party-goer are shown over archive images of opioid dens in the Victorian times. Text overlay reads: "'There is a dark side behind the exotic colours, sounds and smells' 'The daughter of two heroin addicts [.] spoke a bizare form of pidgin jamaican-English' BBC, 2011."](https://whitechapellondon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/04/nitazene-crisis-tower-hamlets-victorian-opium-dens-drug-user-types-800x445.jpg)
Nitazenes: History hasn’t prepared us for synthetic opioids
Nitazenes are up to one million times stronger than opium, but the way we understand drug use hasn’t changed to
Read more
The arrival of an invisible killer: Is Tower Hamlets ready for Nitazenes?
Deadlier than heroin or fentanyl, nitazenes have arrived in Tower Hamlets. A new investigative series by the Slice asks, are
Read more
Barts Health NHS Trust paid out £20 million to patients for medical mistakes
Over a span of five years, Barts Health NHS Trust paid nearly £20m to 99 patients for misdiagnoses and ‘unnecessary
Read more
Domestic abuse service redundancies called off after threat of strikes
Redundancy proposals from Solace Women’s Aid have been axed in one of ‘the most significant and inspiring wins for Violence
Read more
Council takes parking enforcement in-house after high number of complaints
Parking complaints are among the top three most common complaints from council house residents, prompting Tower Hamlets Council to take
Read more
New science labs and affordable workspace to replace former clothing factory
A former clothing factory will be demolished to make way for science labs and an affordable workspace as part of
Read more
Tower Hamlets food bank funding to be reinstated following months of slashed funding
Mayor Lutfur Rahman has pledged to reinstate funding to the Tower Hamlets Food Hub, stating his office was ‘misinformed’ about
Read more
Tower Hamlets Council passes budget with 4.99 per cent council tax rise
Tower Hamlets Council has passed their 2025 Budget including a 4.99% council tax rise, and investments in universal school uniform
Read more
Tower Hill playground revamp plans put to Tower Hamlets Council
The City of London Corporation plans to redesign Tower Hill playground as a fort to honour the nearby UNESCO World
Read more
‘It’s heartbreaking, it’s frustrating,’ voluntary groups in Tower Hamlets are being squeezed out of their leases
Voluntary groups that provide Tower Hamlets with key services, some for over 100 years, are facing a hostile environment that
Read more