Victioria Hall should be for all in Ealing

THE Friends of the Victoria Hall has been formed by a dozen concerned local community groups to bring together local people concerned at the prospect of losing Ealing’s largest indoor venue.

The Hall, standing next to Ealing Town Hall was built with money raised through a Victorian crowdfunding campaign. It is owned by a charitable trust set up in 1893 with the aim of providing a venue for ‘Meetings, Entertainments, Balls, Bazaars, and other Gatherings whether Social or Political.’ In the 126 years since, those aims have been more than delivered upon as has been reported frequently in the pages of the Ealing Gazette and its predecessor Middlesex County Gazette.

Unfortunately, more than a century of public service could be coming to an end. Ealing Council is attempting to take over the Victoria Hall Trust so that it can sell off this valuable community asset building to a hotel development company.

This scheme is the subject of a long-running investigation by the Charity Commission. If it is allowed to go ahead, local people will have only restricted and potentially expensive access to the Hall.

We say that the Victorian vision for the only large meeting space in the Borough is as valid today as it was in 1893.

Ealing’s population is expected to grow rapidly by 25% over the next 10 years: whole new, diverse communities are being established which need to be welcomed into the overall community. More than ever we need Ealing needs a community space for cultural and political exchange.

We call upon the Charity Commission to reject Ealing Council’s attempt to expropriate the Victoria Hall for its own purposes and have it work with local stakeholders to modernise, then to manage the Hall as a multipurpose venue with the potential to serve everyone in Ealing. Roger Green

Chair Friends of the Victoria Hall