The Besom was founded by James Odgers in 1987. Early
in that year, James left the practice of law in
London to go to Hong Kong where he served in a
Christian ministry involved with heroin addicts.
What particularly affected him there was not so much
the absolute levels of human degradation and poverty
that he encountered but the ever widening gap that
exists between those of us who have and can give and
those who are in need. On the plane leaving Hong
Kong in September 1987, James wrote the original
mission statement for Besom - that it should provide
a bridge between those who want to give money, time,
skills or things, and those who are in need. It
ensures that what is given is used effectively. The
Besom began in the spare bedroom of James' basement
flat in Shepherds Bush in London. It now operates,
some 17 years later, from a large warehouse and
offices near Clapham Junction.
Why 'The Besom'?
The name 'Besom' derives from a broom made of twigs
- hence Besom's strapline of 'sweep away suffering'.
James Odgers was nicknamed Besom by his sisters when
he was a boy as he was often to be found sweeping up
the leaves in the yard of their family home outside
London. While researching whether to use the name
for establishing the Besom Foundation, and fearful
that it might already be the name of some huge
American timber combine, James went to the Shorter
Oxford Dictionary to find an example of its earliest
use. This turned out to be 'sweep thy soul clene
with the besom of the drede of God'. He has since
then discovered that, albeit spelt 'byssome', the
word was to be found in an early edition of St.
Matthew's Gospel from 1000AD.
James Odgers