Fundraiser launches to “save” Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, an icon among London’s queer-friendly venues
A fundraiser to “save” Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (BGWMC), an icon among London’s queer-friendly venues, has launched, aiming to raise £12,000 by April 8. A key player in London’s LGBTQ+ and alternative scene, the venue first opened as a traditional working men’s club in 1953, and two decades
A fundraiser to “save” Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (BGWMC), an icon among London’s queer-friendly venues, has launched, aiming to raise £12,000 by April 8.
A key player in London’s LGBTQ+ and alternative scene, the venue first opened as a traditional working men’s club in 1953, and two decades later reopened with a remit to stage cabaret, comedy, drag and alternative events, which over the years has included the Sink The Pink queer club night, and the David Lynch-inspired Double R Club.
In summer 2024, owners of the venue announced they were looking to sell the club. Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (FoBGWMC) subsequently managed to get the Mayor of Tower Hamlets on its side in a bid to protect the club, but there is still a danger it could wind up in the hands of unsympathetic developers.
Those who wish to donate to the fund can do so HERE. Incentives include A3 prints of the club by artist Lawrence Brand and beer mats.
Nick Keegan, a variety organiser for performing arts trade union Equity, which launched the petition to keep the venue open, said: “BGWMC is a crucial and irreplaceable fixture of London’s cultural heritage.
“It has been a catalyst for the development of new artists and cultural workers in the city, a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, and it is a building with more than 100 years of history as a community-owned space. It is vital that we protect BGWMC for future generations and allow its legacy to live on.”
