Tower Hamlets Council's

About our work

Tower Hamlets Council's Sport & Physical Activity team work to increase participation in physical activity amongst Tower Hamlets residents. In particular we try to engage with inactive people and those sections of the community who face more barriers to participating, such as disabled people, older people, women and girls, minority ethnic groups, and those of lower socio-economic status.

We are one of the UK's most culturally vibrant and diverse areas. The borough is densely populated, with over 200,000 people living within eight square miles at the heart of London's East End.

The borough includes a number of London's famous attractions including the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Columbia Road Flower Market and Billingsgate Fish Market.

The attractions of Bangla Town bring in thousands of tourists every year. It is also home to some amazing buildings like those at Canary Wharf and the RIBA award winning Idea Store in Whitechapel.

Tower Hamlets has won praise and recognition for its parks and open spaces, including the outstanding Mile End Park and Victoria Park.

The borough has for centuries welcomed and been home for many immigrants to Britain. Today, some 49 per cent of residents are from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities; 33 per cent are of Bangladeshi heritage, and there are also sizable Somali, Caribbean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Pakistani communities.

Local people are proud of their history of tolerance and mutual respect and the borough is regarded nationally as a beacon for community cohesion.

Deprivation and poverty is present in the area, providing a stark contrast to the wealth and prosperity that has grown around Canary Wharf and the City fringes that also lie within the borough.