THE Friends of Victoria Hall were out in force this weekend with a petition against the sale of central Ealing’s largest indoor venue.

Chairman Roger Green said: “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 it can sell off this valuable community asset to a hotel company.”

Victoria Hall was built next to Ealing Town Hall with money raised through public subscription.

It is owned by a charitable trust, set up in 1893 with the aim of providing a venue for meetings, entertainment and other events.

The petition is aimed at the Charity Commission, which has published a draft scheme which would allow the council to take over the Victoria Hall Trust and sell off its assets as part of a town hall property deal.

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Mr Green said: “We need the Commission to have no doubt about the strength of feeling in Ealing. We’ll achieve this in two ways - firstly, through this petition and secondly by the volume of objections lodged through the Charity Commission website.

“The next stage in our campaign will be to release details of what residents should object to in the Charity Commission consultation.

“There turns out to be so much wrong with the draft scheme that it’s difficult to know where to start. We will publish our guidance in the coming week.”

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-victoria-hall-1?

Theatre group A Wonderful Adventure is to stage a special edition of a family Christmas show to raise funds for the Friends next Saturday (21) at 5pm.

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas will be performed at The Polygon, St. Mary's Church, St. Mary's Road, Ealing W5 5RH with tickets at £5 each.