Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (BGWMC) isn’t just a venue; it’s a vital cultural lifeline for London’s creative and LGBTQ+ communities. As developers circle and rents skyrocket, its future hangs in the balance. We sat down with Nick Keegan, Equity’s Variety Organiser, to discuss why this space must be protected, how artists and performers depend on it, and what the Fighting Fund campaign means for the future of grassroots culture in East London.
Nick, as Equity’s Variety Organiser, you’ve seen firsthand how BGWMC has become a vital cultural hub. What does this venue mean to you both personally and professionally?
For me personally, in my early 20s, BGWMC was a significant and transformational place during the early days of Sink The Pink. It was an affordable night out, crucially. But it was somewhere to go to experience art and culture that was diy and messy, and where you could dress up and be a part of it. I’ve heard from so many different generations of people who have had the same experience over the past 24 years.
Professionally, it is about preserving people’s jobs and livelihoods first and foremost. Being a professional performer is a job, it is a career. Professional gigging performers, whether they are drag artists, musicians, circus performers, DJs or cabaret artists, they are the beating heart of London’s nighttime ecology. But surviving in these precarious jobs, building sustainable careers, is harder now than ever.
Given BGWMC’s rich history and its role as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, how do you see its legacy shaping the future of London’s creative landscape?
BGWMC has always been a place where people can experiment and put on new work that doesn’t require huge financial risk. It has been an accessible route into the industry for people from low-income backgrounds. As a community owned building, it hasn’t had the spiraling overhead costs of some commercial spaces. It had the opportunity and the time to develop a cultural identity and a community who always want to come back and experience something new. There are countless high-profile artists and cultural producers who would not exist without their time developing at BGWMC. I think the situation we find ourselves in now is symbolic of a much larger issue facing art and culture in this country.
The ‘Fighting Fund’ aims to raise £12,000 by April 2025 to secure a survey, valuation, and planning bid for the club. Can you explain what this funding will achieve and why it’s so critical right now?
It is about starting the fight-back. The community has already defied the odds in keeping the club open. I think a lot of people don’t realise how close we came to losing BGWMC for good on 29th July 2024. The rally outside the club was on eviction day. The public outcry (and the legal advice) came through right at the last moment.
We have spent 2024 on the defensive, putting in place protections on the building. But we’re now ready to take this to the next level and start fighting back. We are laying the groundwork for the community bid to buy the building. The building is obviously worth a lot of money to someone if they can develop it into expensive flats. But we don’t think the community or the local council will allow the building to be turned into expensive flats. Tower Hamlets has very clear local planning policies that will not allow a planning application to be successful if it results in the loss of a cultural facility. We want the valuation of the building to reflect this.
The building could go on the market at any moment, so we need to be ready.
What do you see as the biggest challenges in transitioning BGWMC from a community-owned space into a model that involves partnership with Tower Hamlets Council for its long-term preservation?
The current structure of community ownership has clearly decided they would rather cash-in than allow future generations of working people to benefit from using the club. We are willing to do whatever is necessary to preserve the building, to keep it in community ownership for the benefit of working people. We are grateful that Tower Hamlets have been very supportive of the campaign and have worked hard to ensure that the Asset of Community Value status is enforced. We are determined to build a strong case that demonstrates the important cultural heritage of BGWMC, and that it is in the interests of Tower Hamlets Council to protect this for local residents.
Having been a launching pad for countless artists and performers, how do you believe preserving BGWMC will continue to nurture emerging talent within London’s arts and culture scene?
Drag and Cabaret is a growing sector receiving mainstream popularity at the moment. So much of London’s hospitality sector is using artists and performers to get customers in the door and helping them stay afloat. But there has to be space for new work and experimentation, otherwise everything starts to look the same. There must be spaces where artists can make mistakes and try things out, otherwise the vibrancy of the sector suffers.
Protecting BGWMC as a space that isn’t beholden to a landlord is crucial. If we want to protect our cultural spaces and our LGBTQ+ spaces, then we must fight to own them. The most effective way I think we can nurture emerging talent is by protecting it from the whim of the property market. If a landlord chooses to put the rent up on a venue, then it is the workers and promoters who get squeezed. There must be spaces where people can take a risk without bankrupting themselves. Otherwise, our culture becomes homogenised and people from low-income backgrounds have no route into the industry.
Facing pressure from developers, what are the potential risks if BGWMC is sold, and how might that impact the venue’s role as a cultural and community landmark?
The usual pattern for LGBTQ+ spaces and cultural spaces at risk is that developers will seek to evict everyone and keep it empty until they can push through a planning application. We have seen this with The Joiners Arms and The Black Cap. Developers operate on a different timescale. They can afford to just shutter the building and wait up to 5-10 years until they can find a loophole or until community momentum dissipates. This shouldn’t be allowed.
Community-led campaigns often highlight the strength of grassroots activism. What advice would you give to other communities striving to save their local cultural institutions?
Social clubs are worker-owned community infrastructure. They are assets that have been hard fought for over generations. Once they are gone, they are gone. Sometimes just getting involved and contributing your time can be transformative. Giving your time to support events or be a club secretary or a treasurer of your social club might not seem revolutionary, but it can be. Each generation has a responsibility to create the space you want to see and ensure that it is safely passed on.
Looking forward, if the campaign is successful, how do you envision the future of BGWMC, and what message do you hope it sends about the value of preserving local heritage spaces?
I find it quite hard to envision the future of BGWMC, if I’m being completely honest. I try to manage my expectations because I know the odds are stacked against us. The balance of power is firmly with the prospective property developers.
I envision the future of BGWMC as a functioning social club. One that is representative of the community and the workers who rely on the club for their livelihood. I know the community of BGWMC is willing to fight tooth and nail to preserve what has been built over the past 24 years, and I think that has limitless potential.
