​The CEPAC campaign
A community arts centre for Ealing

Ealing Performance & Arts Centre is a charity which exists to promote a wide range of artistic and cultural activities in the community. As CEPAC, we have been fighting since 2010 for an arts facility in central Ealing. In November 2018, we submitted a bid to convert the Victoria Hall, which adjoins Ealing Town Hall and belongs to a charitable trust, into a community-based performance & arts centre.
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Our work to reach this important milestone has been through several key stages. We have:
  • conducted professional demand studies  
  • ​prepared a detailed business plan
  • ​looked at a variety of sites
  • had discussions with landowners, developers and the Council
  • won public approval for the idea through the Neighbourhood Plan referendum.​
  • ​More details are on our page Our Campaign. 
PictureCEPAC's ideas for Ealing's Victoria Hall
Our plan
CEPAC's proposal is for the Council-managed Trust which owns the Victoria Hall to be transferred to new independent Trustees, who would refurbish it for community use. We have drawn up a detailed scheme for the space to be separated from the Council's plan to sell the Town Hall. 

A detailed feasibility study shows that our spatial plan fits well into the area covered by the Victoria Hall trust (see plans right).

The Victoria Hall was built by private donations, and it has been confirmed that the Trust which owns it is charitable.  The Charity Commission has now decided (see right) that  the Council cannot change the existing Trust Deed and sell the Hall to a private developer, unless it makes major changes to its scheme including the appointment of independent Trustees. 
How you can help
  • Support our campaign by donating at
    ​         https://www.justgiving.com/cepac
  • Alternatively, you can use our gift aid form by downloading it here.This can add 25% to your donation through tax relief.
  • Join our email list to keep in touch with the developments in our campaign by clicking on http://eepurl.com/vHwIP.
  • Spread the word and encourage others to back us too.

​Thank you!
Charity Commission blocks Council sale
The 'sell-off' of Ealing Town Hall has been blocked after the Charity Commission rejected Ealing Council’s application to include the assets of the charitable Trust that owns Victoria Hall.

The Council needed the go-ahead so that the Trust property could be sold with the rest of the Town Hall to boutique hotel developer Mastcraft.

The Victoria Hall was built next to Ealing Town Hall with money raised through a Victorian crowdfunding campaign. It’s owned by a charitable Trust which was set up in 1893 to provide a venue for community use for “Meetings, Entertainments, Balls, Bazaars, and other Gatherings whether Social or Political".

In his ruling, the Commission Reviewer says  “I cannot see that any consideration has been given as to whether the proposals are the best that can be obtained by the Charity."

He goes on to say that that the Council Scheme proposed by the Council for the future of the charity could only go ahead subject to a number of conditions. These include
1. The charity’s property has to be properly identified, which has not yet been done; 
2. The benefits provided by the charity to the public would have to be re-provided, in the building or elsewhere;
3. Clarifying what share of the proceeds of the sale to Mastcraft would  benefit the charity;
4. Making sure that the hotel operator was obliged to re-provide the current facilities, and how this would be monitored and enforced;
5. Providing procedures to manage any conflicts of interest between the charity and the Council.

The Reviewer concludes that if the Council wishes to proceed it would need to present a revised case “that demonstrates that the proposals now amount to a more suitable and effective use for the charity’s property.”

Together with FoVH, ​CEPAC will study the decision and may seek legal advice.. We may well have to raise more money to fund this.

The full report can be seen ​here.                    ​​