At long last, the Charity Commission issued a revised Scheme for the Victoria Hall on 23 September. This would allow Ealing Council to sell off the Trust's Victoria Hall to the hotel developer Mastcraft, along with the rest of Ealing Town Hall.

While there have been some improvements to the Scheme's wording, the Friends of the Victoria Hall are continuing to challenge the Commission's consent to the deal because the new Scheme has several important defects, not least the definition of the charitable property and the future community use of the space.

The Friends welcomed the Commission's requirement that the Trust committee should now have a majority of independent members, but is concerned that the Council has taken no steps to fulfil this requirement and, indeed, cancelled without explanation a meeting of the Trust committee scheduled for 25 October.

The appointment of a new, independent Trust committee is crucial to determining the future of the Hall. It would have the power to change the details of what the Council agreed with Mastcraft in July 2016, acting as sole trustee of the charitable trust.

Moreover, an independent Trust could and should get to grips with the reopening of the Victoria Hall, which has now, with the rest of the Town Hall, been closed for well over a year – generating costs and deteriorating rather than bringing in revenue and providing amenity to the people of Ealing who are the Trust's beneficiaries.

Thank you for all the support you have given this campaign. It is not over yet, but you have helped us fundamentally change the basis on which the Trust is founded, following decades of the Council using the charitable property as part of its own fiefdom.

The Charity Commission, with Ealing Council, has issued a new 'Scheme' for the Victoria Hall and associated spaces which would effectively annihilate the charity.

A negligibly publicised public consultation, closing on 28 April, advises of this latest attempt to let the Council have its way and sell off the charity-owned property, paid for by public subscription in the 1890s, to a hotel developer. The property forms part of and comprises over 20 per cent of Ealing Town Hall. The latest 'Scheme' (governing rules) would leave the charitable Trust with very much less space and severe restrictions on its use by the community for which the Hall was created. For example, it would not be available from Friday evening to Monday morning other than at hotel wedding reception rates.

The Council's mismanagement, over many decades, of the charitable property has been ignored by the Commission. Having not produced audited accounts for the charity for many years, the Council has concocted a set of figures that saddle the charity with massive historic debt and effectively stop it continuing to operate. The Council even stitches up the charity by denying it any future income from the hiring of its space, stipulating that the developer should receive this. With no income, the charity cannot survive, and the Victorian benefactors' gift to the people of Ealing will be lost forever.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall are lodging the strongest possible objection to the 'Scheme' and would be very grateful for any contribution to the cost of legal support at this stage. Please donate if you possibly can.

Representations about the proposed Scheme can be made here: https://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk  Case number 102398

Dear supporters, 

After an eight-month wait we at last had a decision, in September, from the Tribunal judge, which announced that the proposed rule changes did not adequately protect the interests of the Charity and ordered the Charity Commission and Ealing Council to draw up a new Scheme in consultation with the FoVH representatives. However, many issues were unresolved, including that of governance of the Charity, which has for many years been conflicted. In effect, the Council has run the trust property as part of its corporate domain, while also failing to maintain it and now permanently closing it to the public.

While the judge has dismissed a request for clarifications, and also for appeal, work is ongoing to try to achieve as good an outcome as possible for the Victoria Hall Trust. Legal expenses are still outstanding, however, so please donate whatever you can so that we can continue to fight for the interests of the beneficiaries - the people of Ealing.

The Victoria Hall and its associated spaces are owned by a charitable trust on behalf of the community, and not by Ealing Council, which has made a deal to dispose of it to a developer.

The fate of the Hall, which has been a central Ealing community amenity for nearly 130 years, will be decided at a tribunal scheduled for 20/21 February. The Friends of the Victoria Hall, in the shape of appellants Tony Miller and Will French, need to raise over £30,000 to pay legal fees for this last-ditch attempt to stop the Hall being disposed of to a hotel developer.

Please help us pay for further legal support. 

We need this because the goalposts have been moved. We are now facing not one but two powerful adversaries: the Charity Commission, against whom we originated this challenge, and Ealing Council, which applied to ‘join’ the case late in the day. Both are represented by top-dollar barristers. Having put an enormous amount of work into building the case, we now recognise that we need legal representation.

Please donate whatever you can to get us over the line and ensure the best chance of success.

The appeal against the Charity Commission's ruling to accept Ealing Council's scheme to dispose of the Victoria Hall (which does not belong to them) was launched in April 2021. Since then, time after time, the actual court proceedings (the tribunal) have been kicked into the long grass. 

One reason for this was Ealing Council's late move to become a 'respondent' in the court case, and another is that the Charity Commission itself has not wished to make an appearance at the hearing. Now the case is bogged down by the non-availability of counsel or of the judge himself.

All this is placing an intolerable burden on our two named 'appellants', Tony Miller and Will French, who have had this hanging over them for far too long and need to get on with the rest of their lives. They are striving to represent the Friends of the Victoria Hall on their own, as we cannot afford to have our own barrister. It is a David and Goliath situation – the community of Ealing versus the big guns of the Council and the Charity Commission. 

A donation to help us seek legal advice, even though we cannot afford a barrister, would be very much appreciated. So if you have already donated, we send grateful thanks. And if you would now like to chip in, the money will be put to very good use.

Latest information is that the case will be heard during the period 13 February to 31 March 2023. If this happens, it will bring an end to this tedious two-year saga – an unnecessary action brought about through the Council's determination to rob the people it represents.

The appeal against the Charity Commission's ruling to accept Ealing Council's scheme to dispose of the Victoria Hall (which does not belong to them) was launched in April 2021. Since then, time after time, the actual court proceedings (the tribunal) have been kicked into the long grass. 

One reason for this was Ealing Council's late move to become a 'respondent' in the court case, and another is that the Charity Commission itself has not wished to make an appearance at the hearing. Now the case is bogged down by the non-availability of counsel or of the judge himself.

All this is placing an intolerable burden on our two named 'appellants', Tony Miller and Will French, who have had this hanging over them for far too long and need to get on with the rest of their lives. They are striving to represent the Friends of the Victoria Hall on their own, as we cannot afford to have our own barrister. It is a David and Goliath situation – the community of Ealing versus the big guns of the Council and the Charity Commission. 

A donation to help us seek legal advice, even though we cannot afford a barrister, would be very much appreciated. So if you have already donated, we send grateful thanks. And if you would now like to chip in, the money will be put to very good use.

Latest information is that the case will be heard during the period 13 February to 31 March 2023. If this happens, it will bring to this tedious two-year saga – an unnecessary action brought about through the Council's determination to rob the people it represents.

Following a half-day Case Management meeting in early May, the Friends of the Victoria Hall have now been informed that the actual Tribunal will be taking place in late September and is expected to take two to three days.

The Friends, represented by Tony Miller and Will French, are in effect facing two adversaries: the Charity Commission, whose decision the Friends organisation was set up to contest; and Ealing Council, whose attempts to appropriate charitable property it did not own and dispose of it to a commercial entity prompted the whole case.

Both the Charity Commission and Ealing Council have legal representation, while the Friends are representing themselves but are continuing to seek legal advice on specific points when necessary. Any financial support you can lend to their legal challenge would be much appreciated.

As the Charity Commission has effectively bowed out of the Tribunal challenge mounted by the Friends of the Victoria Hall to save it from disposal to a hotel developer, the case is now a face-off  between Ealing Council and the Friends. 

Why has the Charity Commission not seen fit to protect the charitable trust that owns the Hall and which was set up in the 1890s to ensure that it was run for the benefit of the people of Ealing?

The Council now excludes the people of Ealing from discussions about the Hall's future. The Hall's finances are also secret. It is plain, however, that there seems to be no end to the amount of Ealing residents' money that the Council is prepared to spend on depriving the community of the Hall: £2m just between July 2018 and February 2020, and now the costs of a barrister to defend its actions.

Will the Tribunal recognise the shameful conflict of interest between the Council and the charitable trust it controls?

Help us stop this appalling injustice, please, by donating to our campaign - and do complete a Gift Aid form if you have not already done so.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall Save Victoria Hall campaign 

Gift Aid declaration

Name (in CAPS): ...............................................................

Email: ….……………………………………………………………

Postal address: ..............................................................................

Post code: .......................................................................................

I would like to enhance my donation through Gift Aid.

I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Signed:

The Friends of the Victoria Hall are taking the Charity Commission to tribunal to challenge its support of Ealing Council's plans to dispose of the Victoria Hall, which belongs not to it but to a charitable trust set up in the 1890s for the benefit of the people of Ealing.

Having completed, on time, a lengthy submission of evidence for our case, the Friends were surprised to learn of an 11th hour intervention by the Council asking to be 'joined' in the case against the Commission. This has been granted, and there is now another delay while the Council constructs its case.

All this means that the case may not be heard for several more months – perhaps not until the second half of 2022. Meanwhile, the Council is using the charity property for its own purposes: we trust that it is paying the trust in accordance with its own hire rates.

The Council has instructed a barrister to act for it. The Friends have not yet done so, for reasons of cost, but it may be that such a measure is needed in order for us to present our challenge as effectively as possible, so please continue to donate – and to complete a Gift Aid form if you have not already done so.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall Save Victoria Hall campaign 

Gift Aid declaration

Name (in CAPS): ...............................................................

Email: ….……………………………………………………………

Postal address: ..............................................................................

Post code: .......................................................................................

I would like to enhance my donation through Gift Aid.

I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Signed:

This unique central Ealing community facility is in jeopardy. The Council wants to sell it off to a hotel developer, despite the fact that it is charitable trust property, paid for by our Victorian forebears and specifically intended for community use. In a last throw of the dice, the Friends of the Victoria Hall are taking the Charity Commission, which has approved the Council's plans, to tribunal.

This means using the best legal team we can muster. So once again we are asking you to pledge your support – not just on behalf of today's communities but for future generations in this large and fast-growing borough. The Friends have a fully developed plan for refurbishing the Hall and allied spaces in order to bring them into use as a modern performance and arts centre. 

There is nowhere else in the centre of Ealing that can serve this purpose, and under the new regime the Hall would be effectively lost to the people of the borough – the charity's beneficiaries – for whom it was built.

Help us stop the theft of this important building, home for well over a century to events of all kinds – performances, exhibitions, meetings, dance classes, festivals and much more.

Please pledge as much as you can to help us cover our legal expenses, and sign up for Gift Aid to make your donation go even further.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall Save Victoria Hall campaign

Gift Aid declaration

Name (in CAPS): ...............................................................

Email: ….……………………………………………………………

Postal address: ..............................................................................

Post code: .......................................................................................

I would like to enhance my donation through Gift Aid.

I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Signed:

The Victoria Hall is a unique central Ealing community facility. It has hosted meetings, concerts, exhibitions, festivals and all kinds of performance for 126 years. The Charity Commission has ignored hundreds of complaints from local residents and submissions from the Friends of the Victoria Hall that demonstrate the flagrant injustice of the property disposal. The Commission would allow the Council to lease the charity property to a hotel developer for 250 years – and has completely disregarded the conflict of interest inherent in a council governing a charitable trust. We now have no choice but to go to Tribunal, with a professional legal team.

Why are we mounting this costly operation? Because there is nowhere else in central Ealing available where the community, from all parts of this large borough, can gather for the type of event for which the Victoria Hall was built. Instead, it will be subsumed into a hotel, with guest rooms inserted into its eastern end and the stage taken away.   This will make large-scale events in the compromised space impossible to accommodate – and it's certainly not what the original Victorian crowdfunders had in mind.

We must stop the theft of this important building, then get the space refurbished and brought back into its intended use. How? See video link below, following Gift Aid form.

Help us, please, by pledging as much as you can to cover our legal expenses, and sign up for Gift Aid to make your donation go even further.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall Save Victoria Hall campaign

Gift Aid declaration

Name (in CAPS): ...............................................................

Email: ….……………………………………………………………

Postal address: ..............................................................................

Post code: .......................................................................................

I would like to enhance my donation through Gift Aid.

I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Signed:

Date: ………………………

Please return your signed form to FoVH Treasurer, 103 Delamere Road, Ealing, London W5 3JR. Alternatively, scan the signed form and email it to [email protected].

And see the video created last year to show how the Victoria Hall could be revamped as a modern community centre:  https://vimeo.com/457474916

The Charity Commission has just agreed to allow Ealing Council to dispose of the Victoria Hall and other Charitable Trust property, which will mean it is effectively lost to the community. The Commission has made this ruling despite the fact that the Council has produced no accounts for the charity it controls, failed to clarify the extent of the Trust property, and done nothing to end the conflict of interest that exists in its dual role as council and Trustee.

What's more, a Community Use Protocol has been agreed that prevents use of the Hall by the community at weekends and imposes hire charges that are even steeper than the unaffordable rates already in place – and this for space that will be seriously compromised by having a concrete cube inserted to accommodate hotel rooms, courtesy of the Council's chosen developer.

The injustice of the Commission's decision to allow such disposal of charitable property is beyond belief. Now, the Friends of the Victoria Hall is taking the case to Tribunal, a costly but, we believe, essential challenge to this flawed and unjustifiable ruling.

We urgently need your help. Please pledge as much as you can to support this legal challenge – and sign up for Gift Aid to make your donation go even further. The people of Ealing will be in your debt for generations to come for helping to save this precious community amenity.

Gift Aid declaration

Name (in CAPS)................................................................................

Email..................................................................................................

Postal address, inc. post code.........................................................

...........................................................................................................

I would like to enhance my donation through Gift Aid. I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less income tax and/or capital gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations, it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Signed.....................................                  Date..................................

Please return your signed form to FoVH Treasurer, 103 Delamere Road, Ealing, London W5 3JR. Alternatively, scan the signed form and return it to

[email protected]

Thank you very, very much.

The Charity Commission has rejected Ealing Council's application to seize the assets of the charitable trust that owns the Victoria Hall and allow it to become part of a hotel.

To proceed with its deal with developers Mastcraft the Council would have to substantially revise its plans and address the major conflict of interest that exists between Council and charity - not to mention the even worse conflict that would exist between charity and commercial hotel.

The Charity Commission wants benefits provided by the charity to be made available in the building or elsewhere. It also wants the money realised from the sale of the Hall to be used to benefit the charity.

The Friends of the Victoria Hall are seeking legal advice on the next steps, which may mean that more fundraising is necessary. Enormous thanks to all who have supported us thus far. We are 40% towards our target, so if you could manage another donation, ideally with Gift Aid, it would certainly help.

Thanks to everyone who's donated so far, and who has filled in the Gift Aid form we emailed the other day. Note that the signature is not essential on this form. Do fill it in and return it to the 'reply' address. And could you manage to donate just a little more before the crowdfunding deadline arrives? We'd be so grateful.

We're doing well, but we're not there yet. Please keep the donations coming in so that we can pay our lawyers for the fantastic work they did for us in double-quick time before Christmas, burning quite a bit of midnight oil to meet the deadline. Please, if you can, lob in a little more cash!

You are a phenomenally generous set of people. We have almost reached our initial target after just two and a half days. But we need to keep going to reach our stretch target, so please keep the money coming in, and make sure no friend, neighbour or family member is unaware of this important campaign. Well done, everyone, and thanks!