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Fighting fund set up to save working men's club

Friends of BGWMC A stage with a large pink heart with gems around it against red curtains, next to gold foil curtains with a white star propped up against the wall. Friends of BGWMC
The venue has functioned as a community-owned social club since 1973

Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club (FoBGWMC) have set up what they are calling a "fighting fund" as part of the next stage of a campaign to save the at-risk LGBT-friendly venue in east London.

FoBGWMC said the fund would pay for a planning bid to persuade Tower Hamlets Council to save the club. About £7,000 has been raised, with the aim to raise £12,000 by 8 April.

In June 2024, the club was given a two-month eviction notice. Equity, the actor's union, then launched an online petition to halt plans to close the venue.

Equity's Nick Keegan said the venue, where some scenes from Netflix's Baby Reindeer were filmed, was a "crucial and irreplaceable fixture of London's cultural heritage".

Equity UK/Jack Witek Protesters gather outside Bethnal Green Working Men's Club with signs reading 'save our venues' and 'hands off our queer places'.Equity UK/Jack Witek
Protesters gathered at the venue in July

More than half of London's LGBTQ+ venues closed between 2006 and 2022, Greater London Authority data shows.

BGWMC has functioned as a community-owned social club since 1973, with a history of shared ownership that goes back to 1888.

FoBGWMC said the money from the crowdfunding campaign would pay for a full chartered survey and valuation of the building, as well as cover the planning application costs.

It added an extended target of £18,000 would allow the group to develop a robust business plan with financial projections and cover all consultancy and accountancy costs.

The aim is to build an investment case for one of two preferred outcomes: for Tower Hamlets Council to buy the club and then lease it back to FoBGWMC or for the council to allow FoBGWMC to purchase the club themselves.

FoBGWMC A group of men and women smiling at the camera holding up A4 pieces of paper that say 'Save BGWMC'. One person is holding a fluffy white dog in the middle of the group. FoBGWMC
Campaigners supporting Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

The building is owned by a group called the Boro of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club.

FoBGWMC said despite the ongoing success of the club, the group wanted to sell the building, with the proceeds shared between about 50 individuals, potentially ending 130 years of working-class community ownership.

Equity's Mr Keegan added: "A community purchase on this scale will be no small task.

"We believe it is essential to save this unique cultural facility and give it a chance to continue serving the local community of Tower Hamlets, the LGBTQ+ community, and the wider cultural tapestry of London for future generations."

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