Always on
This project successfully funded on 17th May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 17th May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
The Mobile Apothecary is a volunteer run project distributing free herbal remedies to people facing barriers to health in East London.
The Mobile Apothecary is a volunteer run project distributing free herbal remedies to people facing barriers to health in Bethnal Green since April 2019.
How does it work?
The Mobile Apothecary uses herbs sourced from the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve and locally foraged or bought, to make herbal remedies. There are 7 herbal remedies that we developed with Medical herbalists in response to the specific needs of local community members facing barriers to health, food and shelter, focusing on people who are homeless or precariously housed.
These remedies are made on medicine making days in a local community centre. During these sessions, we share stories, knowledge and skills around herbs' properties and ways to process them into remedies, while making together.
The remedies are then distributed on a monthly basis at the corner of Bethnal Green tube station alongside hot food distribution services, to both regulars and new people.
All elements of the project act on a hyper-local level within a 1 mile radius.
We believe:
-Healthcare, encompassing physical and psychological health, is a fundamental right that should be accessible to all people.
-People have the right to basic knowledge and skills in herbal medicine and medicine- making.
-Human health and planetary health are intertwined.
The Mobile Apothecary project facilitates:
-Habitat & local urban environment connection.
-Collective ethical & sustainable growing, stewarding, and harvesting of plants.
-The making of medicines for some of the most vulnerable people within the community, with local resources and local hands.
-Collectively making herbal medicine strengthens bonds between people and local ecosystems.
What will the money collected be used for?
Each £5 covers all the costs for 1 remedy, and £35 covers a set of the 7 remedies. The costs considers the following:
-Buying the ingredients and materials required for the herbal remedies. This includes beeswax, oils, part of the herbs, packaging, labels, utensils, etc...
-Paying for our cupboard storage and medicine making hire space in a local community centre.
-Paying for maintenance and insurance of our cargo bike (currently being replaced as the last one was stolen in November 2025).
Reaching our goal would allow the project to continue for the next 1.5 year while we secure further funding.
Why now?
After managing to source funding over the last 7 years, we are currently facing financial difficulty nourished by the current funding landscape and the theft of our cargo bike last November. While we adapt to secure further funding in the future, we now rely on your support.
Celebration and Rewards:
On the 10th May 2026, we are holding a daytime celebration (times TBD) at the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve.
Come join us to celebrate, meet us, find out how to get involved, and to see the medicine garden in full bloom. Full details will be added soon.
Physical rewards can be collected on the day of the celebration or posted before June.
Thanks to everyone who makes a donation, to all who have contributed a reward to help us raise funds, and to all the people who have been part of the Mobile Apothecary.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made