A Bermondsey woman opened her toilet to the public for three days straight to help mourners lined up in Her Majesty the Queen’s lying in state queue.
From Friday to Sunday, Henrietta Onyema, 63, let thousands of people, including olympic champion Kelly Holmes, use the bathroom of her Thames-side home on Bermondsey Wall East.
The full-time foster carer had been driven crazy by the lack of toilets while queueing to see the Queen’s coffin on Thursday: “When I went, I realised there weren’t a lot of toilets. I felt the least I could do was open my toilet for everyone.
“Initially I was screaming ‘free toilet free toilet!’ so I got a friend of mine to write a big poster to put outside the house to let people know they could use it.”
One over-eager mourner was so grateful for the service he walked upstairs, through Henrietta’s bedroom, giving her the fright of her life.
“I was at the balcony telling people to use toilets and someone came upstairs. I screamed but he just wanted to say thank you!”
Fearing for her safety, Southwark Council built a temporary door in the hallway so people couldn’t walk through her house.
At one point, national treasure Kelly Holmes walked through her door: “She was lovely. She gave me some money. I said ‘no no no this is free give it to my local church’.”
In total, customers donated over £200 which has all gone to the St. Peter and The Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Rotherhithe.
Relatedarticles
Henrietta, who has lived in Bermondsey for thirty two years, went through dozens of industrial-size toilet rolls. Fortunately, her water usage isn’t metered.
She stayed open for over 60 hours, mopping and cleaning until the very last customers walked past late on Sunday. Even when she went to bed, she kept her door open.
“I don’t know where the energy came from – it’s God who did it. I was just bouncing at the age of 63. You wouldn’t think I had problems with my legs.”
As well as her toilet, Henrietta offered free coffee, tea and biscuits to peckish punters, with help from her friends Pauline Boachie, Moji Sumaila, Ann McLaren, Elizabeth Okonyia, Chi Akamelu, Amina Ahmed and poster writer David Parker.
“I realised people were selling tea, coffee and water which was very expensive and I felt bad about it because in my culture we don’t make money from the dead. Most Nigerians are like that – we give,” she said.
Reflecting on the Queen’s death, she said: “I was crying. I was really so very sad. I was not myself. It was an important moment in history.”
Henrietta reserved special thanks for Peter Hopper, the Southwark housing manager who fitted the emergency door.
Southwark pays tribute to Her Majesty The Queen – read our six pages of coverage
A host of local heroes worked to ensure the queue went smoothly on a weekend that saw approximately 250,000 people descend on Southwark.
The Council’s street cleaning team worked 24 hours a day, completing extra waste collections and street maintenance to keep the line clean and tidy.
Southwark’s Young Advisors delivered nine thousand leaflets to local homes and businesses to share news and advice as the queue began to build.
Community wardens, like Miguel Gomes and Andy, kept people in the queue safe and in good humour. They supported anyone who needed help, offering first aid and personal safety advice.
Miguel, 48, said: “We worked pretty much straight from Thursday until Sunday evening at ten o’clock. It was great, the public liked the whole approach.”
As the queue dwindled at the end of their shift on Sunday night, Andy and Miguel, joined it, making it just in time to pay their respects to the late Queen.
Miguel said: “I felt so cold and got hot shivers. To stop right there in front of Her Majesty the Queen and bow – I’ll never forget it.”
That’s strange as there were tons of toilets in the park ? But thanks anyway Henrietta and thanks also to all the other places that opened all night for us like Tate , NT , etc etc