Save Harmony Hall from Closure

29/07/2023

Please see below and how you can express your opposition to the sale of Harmony Hall in Walthamstow.

Sharing this item from my newsletter directly on here given the deadline for writing in- please if you have a moment email the Charity Commission to ask them to stop the current owners of Harmony Hall from selling it to someone who will not use it for a charitable purpose. We only have a week to raise concerns and make them listen to the local community!

Harmony Hall on Truro Road has long been used by local groups for a range of vital community services. It has been managed by CREST for residents of Walthamstow for many years. The Christian charity that owns the building, the Marsh Street Mission, is seeking to sell it to realise the value of the site to fund their work in other boroughs - to do this at a price that reflects town centre land in London, they want the Charity Commission to agree that the covenant on the building which means it must be used for 'Christian purposes' is removed. The Charity Commission has said it is willing to do this - yet this decision risks the building being sold to those who would develop it for private use and losing this vital community space at a time when such buildings are short on the ground.
The Charity Commission has asked for feedback on their recommendation to allow this change to the remit of the building for the express purpose of allowing the Marsh Street Mission to sell the building. If they confirm their choice it risks being removed from use for Walthamstow residents.
If you would like to help us retain this space for local community use please email [email protected] by Friday 4th of August to express your opposition to their decision to approve the sale of this building, and ask them instead to require this Charity to work with Walthamstow residents to ensure the continued use by local residents of Harmony Hall!

15/10/2019

CALL TO ACTION! We need you to sign our petition to help us save our much loved community centre in the heart of Walthamstow! You can sign here:

https://www.change.org/p/livability-save-harmony-hall-stop-the-sale-save-it-for-the-local-community

06/10/2019

Wow what a day! We tested public opinion on the plans to close and sell Harmony Hall, this valuable and vital community asset. We erected a stall at the Sunday Social and within 4 hours we had collected 270 signatures on our paper petition supporting the call to Livability not to sell it and to save it for the Walthamstow Community, this the first borough of culture 2019. We had people queuing to sign, representing this diverse and wonderful community. Our efforts to save it are strengthened and we will be arranging more events soon. Thank you to all those who gave their time, from the lady who did free hand massages, to the wonderful choir who sung us out. We do have an online petition on change.org, please sign and show your support. Thank you.

06/10/2019

Head down to our stall to sign our petition and find out more about the campaign! We’re here until 3pm. Come and say hello!

05/10/2019

Stickers at the ready! Tomorrow is a big day for us, we have our very first stall at Walthamstow Sunday Social. We’ll be talking all things campaign and showing off the wonderful services our building offers! Come and say Hello!

03/10/2019

If Harmony Hall closes, local learners will lose their classes across 38 groups. You can help us ensure this doesn’t happen by signing our petition online, at Harmony Hall, or on our stall at Walthamstow Sunday Social. We’ll be in the high street this Sunday from 11am-3pm showcasing the wonderful services and talent that our hall has to offer. Come and say hello, and find out more about the campaign!

02/10/2019

SEVENTY?! That’s a lot of groups who won’t have a space!

You can help save our space, by signing our petition: https://www.change.org/p/livability-save-harmony-hall-stop-the-sale-save-it-for-the-local-community?recruited_by_id=3d44c190-e47a-11e9-808f-a77c98107cef&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_message&share_bandit_exp=message-16035952-en-GB&share_bandit_var=v1

29/09/2019

Next Sunday, Save Harmony Hall will have a stall at the Sunday Social, High Street E17, to showcase some of the user groups and the work of the Hall. This great meeting place used extensively by the local community is under threat of sale. Please visit and show your support (11am-3pm). Together we can save it and keep it for the community as intended when gifted in the early 1900’s. We hope to see you. The Save Harmony Hall Campaign

13/09/2019

Save Harmony Hall Campaign!
UPDATE

Following the last successful public meeting when 66 people attended and told us to push the campaign to save Harmony Hall from sale, we have:

1.Written to and spoken to Livability to explain the importance of the Hall to all the users and to tell them we expect all users to be consulted on their plans for the Hall.

2. Written to and spoken to the Charity Commission, explaining to them that there has been no consultation with users and that the Hall is very important to Walthamstow and that its status should never be changed.

3. Written to Stella Creasy MP for Waltham Forest, and keen supporter of the Hall and its users, to ask for her further advice on the status of the Hall and to tell her we have written to Livability and the Charity Commission.

4. Secured a free stall at the Sunday Social market initiative which takes place every Sunday on Walthamstow High Street. We invite every group and any individual users of Harmony Hall to join us to run a stall at Sunday Social on:

Sunday 6th October 2019 at 11am until 3pm.

The stall will aim to promote the work of all user groups and individuals who value Harmony Hall as a wonderful oasis of community cohesion.

We are holding a planning meeting for the Sunday Social stall idea.

Please join us at Harmony Hall on Monday 16th September 6.30-7.30pm.

21/06/2019

Alan Horne, the manager of the charity Crest who currently run Harmony Hall was recently interviewed by Forest Radio. As you know the Hall is under threat of sale from October 2019. Alan and his team are striving to raise the million pound price tag to save the Hall for the community of Walthamstow. We need to save this valuable and rare space for all the groups that currently use it, from faith groups, the elderly, mental health teams and many more. If you can help please do get in touch.

https://twitter.com/forestradioE17/status/1139233691526471683?s=17

“We need your help! Harmony Hall has been threatened with closure. We need a million pounds to keep it open, we have identified a possible £600.000 but need to identify a further £400.000 urgently. Join our campaign. Contact us [email protected] or https://t.co/iiWyOIJMe7 https://t.co/5dD...

12/06/2019

Thank you to all those who came to the public meeting last night. The room was full with fantastic audience participation. It clearly shows public sentiment, we need to stop the sale and Save Harmony Hall for All. We have formulated a campaign and have several action points. Next meeting of the steering committee on Tuesday 25th June. Together as a community we can win.

10/06/2019

Serving the community for decades in the heart of Walthamstow, please help us save Harmony Hall by signing our petition. Further details below.

99 signatures are still needed! Save Harmony Hall, stop the sale, save it for the local community!

02/06/2019

SAVE IT OR LOSE IT!

You are invited to a public meeting at Harmony Hall, Truro Road E17 on Tuesday 11th June from 7pm-8pm with light refreshments provided.

Harmony Hall has been at the centre of Walthamstow serving its community for decades. It is now under threat of sale by the current trustees Livability.

The campaign to save the Hall understands and is outraged that this precious community asset we believe was 'given' to Livability is being asset stripped by them to cover their pension shortfall.

We support the charity Crest (currently managing the building and its use) in its endeavour to make the building an asset of community value and we applaud them in their enormous efforts to try to buy the building.

But we say with so many public buildings and land being lost; Wood Street Library, the Marlowe Road Square, the market square and the area around the town hall, to name but a few, we don't think the onus should be on an already struggling community to buy back what in effect we already own.

Sometimes people have to come together to tell others that we don’t want to lose community space in Walthamstow!

So join us, we are a group of local residents, users and wider public exploring ways to save this precious community hall.

Add your voice and support to the campaign. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

We look forward to seeing you on the 11th.

SAVE HARMONY HALL FOR ALL!

23/05/2019

We are delighted to see the banners up at Harmony Hall. We are going to do everything we can to stop the sale and ultimate loss of this wonderful community space in Walthamstow. If you want to get involved please get in touch via our page or contact us via the email address as listed on the banner. Harmony Hall is not for sale, Liveability do not have the right to sell it. Please share your experiences of your use of the Hall on our page. More updates to follow shortly.

05/03/2019

We've reached over 100 likes! Thank you for your support! Please continue to share and spread the word. Further updates to follow.

28/02/2019

Our efforts to Save Harmony Hall have made local news! Please keep sharing and write your memories or experiences at Harmony Hall on our page. This all goes to strengthen the case to save this valuable community asset.

A community venue has rallied support across the borough after plans to save it fail.