Save BGWMC!

Hi there— we are a group performers, punters, programmers, local residents and trade union members dedicated to preserving the future of Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. This is the campaign to protect the club as an LGBTQ+ performance venue, and re-establish the building as a vital asset in shared community ownership.

Read more about our plans and how you can help!

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Hello!

Campaign Timeline

Since July 2024, we have been working to protect Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club from proposed plans to close events at the club, evict the programming team, and put the club up for sale.

The sale of the club would be an unthinkable loss of yet another London LGBTQ+ venue. For 20 years, BGWMC has been a pillar of London’s eco-system for professional cabaret and drag artists, as well as a transformative queer space.

So, what has happened and what comes next?

In May 2024, a group of 39 locals put together Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club as an unincorporated cooperative association. They did this with the intention of submitting an application to London Borough of Tower Hamlets to protect BGWMC as an Asset of Community Value.
Equity learns of the potential loss of the venue, and launches a petition to Save BGWMC. The petition reaches 10k signatures in 3 days, eventually reaching 12.5k. They organise an emergency rally outside the club to prevent the eviction of the programming team. This attracts wide press attention and successfully resists the eviction attempt.
In response to pressure from the campaign to Save BGWMC, London Borough of Tower Hamlets fast tracks the application from Friends of Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, and grants BGWMC as an Asset of Community Value.
The Community Call-out launches to gather memories, testimonials, and evidence from the past 20 years of events at BGWMC. This consultation will allow for the group to apply for further protections on the building, and conserve the venue as an LGBTQ+ performance venue for future generations.
In November 2024, amid uncertainty of how quickly the club is likely to go on the market, members of the community signed an open letter to Tower Hamlets Mayor calling on them to step in and save the club.
In January 2025, Tower Hamlets Council granted our application to recognise BGWMC as a Cabaret Theatre in planning terms.
They said: “any proposed development which would not retain the existing cultural venue (along with its important LGBTQ+ focus) would not be supported.”
This is significant, and we think we have succeeded in preventing BGWMC from being converted into flats for the foreseeable future!
In February 2025 we launched a fighting-fund campaign to help develop our bid for the building.
We smashed this target in just 3 weeks! We raised a total of £44,598 from a combination of crowdfunder donations and other private donations. This has allowed us to develop our pitch for the building and do critical valuations of the building and of BGWMC’s social impact. We now also have healthy reserves to carry the campaign into the next stage of acquiring the building.
In 2026 we are determined to secure the future of the building, to keep it in the hands of the community, and to open the books and allow every member of this vibrant community to become a member of your club. Working towards the relaunch of a social club fit for the 21st Century, run by the community and for the community.
Despite all of this, BGWMC is still very much alive and open for business!
This is something that seemed completely impossible back in 2024!
So, for now, let’s celebrate that and be proud of what we’ve achieved in 2025.