PEOPLE in Ealing have launched a final fund-raising push to pay the cost of legal action they are taking to stop the sale of publicly-owned Victoria Hall.

A tribunal hearing will take place next week, nearly two years after an appeal was lodged, by two Will French and Tony Miller representing the Friends of the Victoria Hall to challenge the Charity Commission over its support for Ealing Council’s attempts to sell off the Victoria Hall.

It is the only large indoor venue in Ealing that is easily accessible from all parts of the borough.

The original appeal was lodged by Will French and Tony Miller, representing the Friends of the Victoria Hall.

Mr French said: “The hall was a gift to us from the town’s first residents. In patriotic mood - like the one that swept the country last year on the death of our Queen - they dug deep in their pockets to build a permanent memorial to Queen Victoria, one that future citizens could enjoy for years to come.”

Mr Miller added: “Our straightforward factual case against the scheme to sell the Victoria Hall, the property of a charitable trust, is that thecCouncil has not properly managed the hall and there should now be a different, independent trustee.

“But, in the two years since we launched our appeal, the council has spent a considerable amount of the trust’s money on building a complex legal defence.

 “That’s why we recently had to brief a barrister to represent us at the tribunal so the community gets Victoria Hall run as intended by the original donors.”

The Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) this week launched a new fund-raising campaign.

Mr French said: “We need the hall now as much as we ever did.

“Don’t let them sell off Ealing’s greatest asset. Spare us what you can and help us keep the Victoria Hall for everyone in Ealing.”

Donations are being accepted here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-the-victoria-hall/