Approaching St John’s Waterloo‘s (SJW) bicentennial celebration in late 2024, SJW and The Bridge At Waterloo (TBAW) started working on a heritage project to remember the Bullring (also known as Cardboard City), the North Lambeth Day Centre and the related ephemeral and neglected heritage of homeless people in the area. This is funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.
Waterloo has a deeply rooted connection to London’s homeless community – a history now at risk of being forgotten. Central to this legacy is the Bullring, a significant social and cultural touchpoint during the 1980s and 1990s. Located in the underground tunnels between Waterloo Station and the South Bank, the Bullring was home to a community of people experiencing homelessness. Shelters, often referred to as “bashes,” were built from cardboard, pallets and other materials, providing refuge to hundreds of individuals over the course of two decades. Nearby, the crypt of St John’s Waterloo hosted the North Lambeth Day Centre, offering daytime support.
Today, much of the physical history of Cardboard City has vanished, and the area is set for another wave of redevelopment. The memory of this community is slipping from London’s collective consciousness, and younger generations remain unaware of its existence. Most urgently, many of those who lived this history are no longer with us, putting their vital first-hand accounts – and this critical chapter of local and social history – at risk of being lost forever.
‘The Lost City of Cardboard’ initiative is being spearheaded by artists and project leaders who have experienced homelessness, and it is engaging directly with individuals who resided in the Bullring, those who provided support to its inhabitants, and local residents with recollections of or an interest in shedding light on this heritage. Additionally, the project involves participants of TBAW’s programme and the devoted churchyard garden volunteers.
Euchar Gravina, Artistic Director at St John’s Waterloo, explained:
"Through our ongoing conversations and discussions, we have been gathering accounts of love, support, and solidarity prevalent in both Cardboard City and the North Lambeth Day Centre. Simultaneously, we've come across narratives that will shed light on the fear, distress, and profound destitution that characterised life in the underpasses. These narratives are swiftly vanishing, as more residents pass away, underscoring the urgency of creating an archive as part of this project. This imperativeness has been emphasised by those already in contact with us, who have been instrumental in shaping this collaborative proposal."
Co-creation is at the heart of this project. The project is being led by Bekki Perriman (an art therapist and artist whose work focuses on homelessness and mental health) and David Tovey (an artist, educator, and activist with experiences of homelessness). They are supported by journalist Samir Jeraj who has written on housing, homelessness and Carboard City, Saz Denny (an artist, poet and former resident of the Bullring) and the team at SJW and TBAW.
Bekki Perriman, an artist and one of the creative leaders of this project, adds:
This project does not intend to romanticise Cardboard City or aspire to be the only source of information but rather aims to provide a platform for its former residents to start preserving its historical importance through their own contributions – the aspired crucial outcome.
"The Spirit of the Bullring lives on..." - an exhibition
In February 2025, we presented the first outcome of the project in the form of an exhibition within the Crypt at St John’s Waterloo.
Led by people with experiences of homelessness, this exhibition sought to remember and memorialise the community of the Bullring and the North Lambeth Day Centre. Through the lens of photographers Liza Hamlyn and Moyra Peralta, alongside personal accounts, artworks, and historical commentary, it preserved the stories while supporting the ongoing campaign to help those experiencing homelessness today.
As with the nature of the whole wider project, this exhibition didn’t aim to provide a comprehensive account of the origins, history, significance, or lived experiences of the Bullring. Instead, it offered a heartfelt endeavour to conserve and reflect upon the memories shared by and archival fragments of those whose lives were shaped by it, while honouring the legacy of those who are no longer with us.
The exhibition title was adopted from a late 1990s photograph (see above) by Moyra Peralta, capturing an inscription made by a resident of the Bullring.
Getting involved
Our Team
David Tovey, an artist, educator, and activist with experiences of homelessness, has exhibited his work internationally at the Atsa Festival in Montreal, Kunsthall Stavern in Norway, Tate Modern, and Tate Liverpool. He is the founder of the UK’s One Festival of Homeless Arts, showcasing art created by individuals with current or past experiences of homelessness. An advocate for housing and homelessness issues, David frequently speaks at related events and provides art instruction to people facing homelessness at Passage House. In addition to his role as Senior Producer at Arts & Homelessness International and being a Patron of The Gem Programme, David serves as a Trustee at Unlimited and is recognized as a Big Issue Change Maker (2019). He is also a core group member of the Museum of Homelessness.
@david.tovey
Euchar Gravina is Artistic Director at St John’s Waterloo.
@stjohnswaterlooarts
Bekki Perriman is a HCPC registered Art Therapist with a background in community arts including working in homelessness, gallery outreach/education, mental health and with autistic children and young people. Her work as an artist has focused on homelessness and mental health. She spent many years homeless in her late teens and twenties which inspired ‘The Doorways Project’ (commissioned by Unlimited). Through this site-specific sound installation, Bekki worked with people experiencing homelessness across the UK, producing a series of recorded monologues with people’s experiences of street homelessness. It was shown at Edinburgh Fringe, Brighton Festival and South Bank London, amongst other. Bekki also produced ‘Doorways: Women, Homelessness, Trauma and Resistance’ which includes interviews with women experiencing street homelessness and essays by women writers, artists and housing activists about issues affecting women experiencing homelessness.
@DoorwaysProject
Samir Jeraj is a journalist who has written for a variety of leading publications and is currently policy correspondent at the New Statesman. His articles cover topics such as housing, homelessness, energy and climate change. He is the co-author of The Rent Trap. With SJW, he has recently started documenting some of the stories of Cardboard City and developing relationships with some of the former residents. Samir will advise and support the research and documentation process together with David, Bekki and other volunteers.
@sajeraj
Saz Denny is a singer-songwriter for a Midlands-based punk-inspired band, as well as a self-published poet and artist. In the late 1980s and mid-1990s, she lived in the Bullring (Waterloo) and experienced homelessness across various locations in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Her creative work often reflects themes of resilience, community, and lived experience, and she remains a steadfast friend to those in need.
In the media
