Fund set up to save working men's club hits target

A "fighting fund" set up to save Bethnal Green Working Men's Club (BGWMC) has surpassed its initial fundraising target.

The LGBT-friendly venue in east London was given a two-month eviction notice in June 2024. An online petition was then launched to halt plans to close the venue, where some scenes from Netflix's Baby Reindeer were filmed.

Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club (FoBGWMC) said more than £14,000 had been raised so far in donations. It said the fund formed the next stage of the campaign.

The building is owned by a group called the Boro of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. The local council said it was helping "to find the best way forward to protect this important venue".

The online petition was launched by actors' union Equity, which described the venue as a "crucial and irreplaceable fixture of London's cultural heritage".

Money raised by FoBGWMC would pay for a full chartered survey and valuation of the building, and pay for the planning application costs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

An extended target of £18,000 would allow the group to develop a robust business plan with financial projections and to 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 said despite the ongoing success of the club, the owners wanted to sell the building, with the proceeds shared between about 50 individuals, potentially ending 130 years of working-class community ownership.

FoBGWMC said if it reached its extended target, it would still keep the fundraiser "open and rolling".

FoBGWMC member Dan de la Motte said: "It's been there for generations, it's about passing on the baton of queer joy and queer fun at night to the generations that are coming through after us."

He added: "This space provides a vital function, a vital service, clubs are closing at a really concerning rate and there are fewer and fewer LGBTQ+ specific night time spaces.

"BGWMC has been there for as long as I can remember and has always been there and has always been this safe haven, this pocket of joy and resilience and strength and mischief and that's why it's so, so vital."

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: "We have not received notice of the owner's intention to sell the property and we are not aware of the building being marketed as 'for sale'.

"We have contacted the freeholder for further details and about their obligation to inform us of any intention to sell."

The spokesperson said the council's corporate director for housing regeneration had met with campaigners and the authority was working with them to find a solution.

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