Friends' Group Calls for Clarity on Victoria Hall's Future
Wants Trust to revive building's role in the community
Victoria Hall. Picture: Roger Green
August 1, 2024
The Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) has published an open letter to the Victoria Hall Trust (VHT) asking to know what the Trust is doing to reopen the Victoria Hall.
The latest ruling by the Charity Commission is that the hall should be reopened but remains closed after it was originally shut by Ealing Council, as one of the Trustees of VHT, along with Ealing Town Hall in September 2023.
FoVH says this was done unilaterally, and without open discussion. The Council cited health and safety issues as a rationale for the closure.
The move by FoVH follows the publication on this July of the Charity Commission’s own review of its latest ‘Scheme’ for VHT. The Scheme would pave the way for Ealing Council to take over the Trust’s property and allow it to be part of the 250 year Ealing Town Hall lease to convert the buildings into a luxury hotel.
A trustee Committee with a majority of independent members wouldmanage the trust. Three independent members are already in place and two more are to be appointed. FoVH wants these to be selected by the Committee itself, rather than by Council officers as happened previously.
The group says it is keen to discuss its ideas for the best accessibility and use of the Hall with the independent trustees and it is this that has prompted them to write the open letter.
Roger Green, Chair of FoVH said, “The Victoria Hall along with Prince’s Hall below it were built by the people of Ealing, for the people of Ealing, during the 1880s. Victoria Hall Trust was set up in 1893 by Ealing residents for both halls to be used by all the citizens of the town.
“For 10 months now the Victoria Hall and Prince’s Hall have been unavailable for use. VHT’S primary function is to enable the local community to use both halls, and associated facilities. VHT is clearly unfit for purpose and we are appalled that the Charity Commission is condoning this failure by the charity”.
The open letter calls for a newly constituted executive committee, with a majority of independent (non-Council) members; costed plans to address the supposed health and safety issues raised by the Council and fix them; clarification of the extent of the charitable property; and a strategy for reviving the Hall’s role for the community.
An Ealing Council spokesperson said, “We are pleased that the Charity Commission has issued a revised scheme which gives a clear direction on the future arrangements for the Victoria Hall Trust.
“The Charity Commission was clear in its revised scheme that the Mastcraft hotel proposal is the ‘only option available’, which reflects the decision of the Tribunal which considered the appeal against the previous scheme.
“The council and the Trust are now further considering how best to implement these requirements outlined by the Charity Commission.”
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