Tom Foakes: director of operations, Charterhouse
Everyone has a story. How good is it when you find the exact right job? Meet Tom Foakes who reckons the creativity and variety of overseeing the Charterhouse’s historic estate and museum, venue hire, the kitchens and fundraising makes it just about perfect. Interview by Nicola Baird
“The Charterhouse is a really special place,” says Tom Foakes who has been Director of Operations at the Charterhouse since October 2020. “Any time I walk out of the Charterhouse of an evening and walk through Master’s Court when the brothers are having dinner in the Great Hall so light is sparkling from the chandeliers and Brother Walter is playing the piano, I think this is where I work: it’s perfect.”
Tom grew up in Chelmsford, Essex and did an art history degree at Warwick. Then at 26-years-old he enrolled on a Masters in Museum and Gallery management at City, University of London, in Islington. It’s a working love affair with EC1 that’s stuck for 20 years. More from the interview with Tom
Mike Lawlor: Charterhouse Brother
Everyone has a story. What’s it like living in the almshouse at the Charterhouse in EC1? Brother Mike Lawlor reveals all from selection to surviving lockdown in the walled garden, plus shopping trips up to the Angel. Interview by Nicola Baird
Before Mike Lawlor, now 69, applied to be a Brother at the Charterhouse, he’d never heard of this one-time monastery, grand Tudor mansion, boys’ school and to this day almshouse in EC1. In fact, even Islingtonians can be a bit vague about this amazing building, just off Charterhouse Square between the Barbican and Smithfield Market.
Originally from Pembrokeshire, Mike had spent a lifetime teaching but was worrying about how he could afford to stay in London when he retired. Sharing this fears with his friend – an Anglican nun in Oxford, who had been a dancer at Sadler’s Wells – she said,“My brother lived in the Charterhouse and he’s a retired priest, so if they won’t take someone like you then they might as well as pack up!” Mike is chuckling as he tells this story. Of course, his friend was right. So long as you’ve worked for the public good, are 60 or older and have a housing problem then you might be in for a chance to become a Brother(there are currently three women).More from the interview with Mike.
Brian Reeve: Charterhouse Brother
Everyone has a story. How do you get to live in the almshouse at Charterhouse(and yes, they do have spaces)? Brian Reeve explains how it was a passion for books that helped him apply… Interview by Nicola Baird
“It’s basically like a very grand old people’s home caring for 40 elderly people who have fallen on hard times,” says Brian Reeve, 73, who moved into the almshouse at Charterhouse at the end of 2016. He’s now one of the Brothers.
“Brother doesn’t mean we are monks any longer, it’s a courtesy title,” says Brother Brian Reeve over Zoom.“You used to have to be a man, but that’s gone by the board – three Brothers are women and we’re now welcoming applications from potential Brothers of both sexes. You do have to have given service and you can’t have too much money. There are quite a few ex-teachers here, retired actors and seven retired clergymen. The Charterhouse used to be Catholic, then a Protestant foundation, then Anglican and now has no religious qualification at all although you must be respectful of its Christian traditions. We still have our own Chaplain, and she, by the way is a lady, as is the Master.”
Brian Reeve was born and brought up in Tottenham so of course is a Spurs fan. But before moving into the Charterhouse, EC1 he’d lived in Islington before – near Highbury Corner. He’s also travelled widely:“I studied Russian at university and then finished up being a Russian interpreter. I started at the end of 1970s when Communism still held sway, then it all collapsed. When I retired, I kept on using my Russian and went not only to Russia, but to those other countries, such as Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and so on, where they still use Russian as a second language.” More from the interview with Brian.
Interviews from Islington Faces blog
Tom Foakes: director of operations, Charterhouse
Mike Lawlor: Charterhouse Brother
Brian Reeve: Charterhouse Brother