It’s taken ten years, but the fight to replace The Joiners Arms has finally paid off. The Joiner’s Heart, London’s newest accessible, community-run LGBTQIA+ pub, opens at Arch 18, Bohemia Place, Hackney on Friday 28th August. It’s the work of Friends of the Joiners Arms (FOTJA), the award-winning Community Benefit Society formed after the beloved Hackney Road pub closed in 2015, and it’s owned by more than 2,000 community shareholders.
The 120-capacity venue has been designed as a community hub from the ground up: a pub and social space, a performance and cultural venue, room for workshops and events, and opportunities for local artists, performers and grassroots organisations to use the space. Accessibility has been built in throughout, developed alongside FOTJA’s Access Advisory Group and co-designed with disabled LGBTQIA+ community members, and the venue will become the permanent home for FOTJA’s existing events, including its Lèse Majesté cabaret night, known for its commitment to d/Deaf accessibility and free tickets for those on lower incomes.
It’s a genuinely significant opening, arriving as London continues to lose queer venues at pace, with the capital down 60% of its LGBTQIA+ spaces since 2006. “This has been more than a ten-year journey,” says Amy Roberts, Chair of Friends of the Joiners Arms. “The realisation of The Joiner’s Heart, a space we have created together, is incredible.”
Key Information
Opening date | Friday 28th August 2026
Address | Arch 18, Bohemia Place, Hackney, London, E8 1DU
For more information | @joinersheart
