In English
Welcome to the Saint Stephen House
We are the Association of Roman Catholic Hungarians in Great Britain, often known as ARKME, which is our Hungarian acronym.
Hall Hire
The main hall of the Saint Stephen House is available for hire. The hall can accommodate around a hundred guests, with various room configurations. We can provide chairs and tables as you need, while a projector, a sound system and tea & coffee making facilities are also available. The hall is accessed step free, and has disabled WC.
For availability and for a quote please e-mail [email protected]
History
The Association was founded in 1594 by Hungarian refugees who found whom in Britain during and after WW2. 1956 revolution against the Soviet-backed communist regime resulted in a new wave of refugees, and the number of Hungarians leaving in the UK raised substantially. A collection between Hungarians resulted in the purchase of a house on Notting Hill, which then served the community for decades – named after Cardinal Mindszenty – until 2007. When Hungary joined the European Union, many fellow Hungarians, mainly young people moved to the UK to work, or study and the Mindszenty House quickly proved to be too small for the purpose and the leaders of the Association decided to find a bigger home for our community. By selling the Mindszenty House we were able to purchase the former Mount Carmel Junior School in Northfields, Ealing. After substantial renovations, the building named after Hungary’s first king, Saint Stephen I, opened its doors in April 2018 and serves the community ever since, with plenty of space for all kind of community activities.
The Association
The Association of Roman Catholic Hungarians in Great Britain is a friendly society registered with the FCA. The Association is governed by an annually elected committee. The committee members are all volunteers who do their vital work in their free time. We welcome anyone to membership who would like to support the work we do.
The Hungarian Roman Catholic Chaplaincy
Although we are separate organisations, the Association has a close cooperation with the Chaplaincy. The Saint Stephen House is the home to the Hungarian Holy Masses, and other church services, and we provide the Chaplaincy with office space and other facilities. The Association also supports the Chaplaincy financially as much is it is able to.
Hungarian Masses in the Saint Stephen House: Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 11.30am.
For more information, please contact Fr Janos Csicso:
07904864431
020 8566 0271 (office)
[email protected]
Cultural Programmes
The Association believes that the Saint Stephen House must be a cultural mission just as much a religious one. We organise a wide range of cultural programmes including literary events, concerts, film club, lectures on various topics, and entertainment programmes of various sorts. The Saint Stephen House hosts a traditional Hungarian folk dance group, that rehearses on Thursday evenings.