Conservation group hold sit-in protest at church where they’ve held meetings for 35 years

Published: 3 December, 2010
by JOSH LOEB

We’re here to stay!

“BLITZ spirit” was on display at a historic church on Tuesday night as members of the Soho Society staged a defiant “sit-in” against an eviction threat.

Around 20 members of the conservation group held a three-hour meeting in a room in the tower of St Anne’s Church where the group have been based for more than three decades.

Some brought pyjamas, sleeping bags and toothbrushes and bedded down despite freezing temperatures and warnings from the church rector, Father David Gilmore, that their lease had expired.

The following day they called the West End Extra and said they had been “locked out” of the room and informed by a church administrator that they could no longer use it.

In October Father Gilmore told the Society he could no longer guarantee them a knock-down rent and must “maximise full market value” for the meeting room, which is located in the Dean Street landmark’s bell tower.

He asked them to leave by midnight on November 30 – the night of the sit-in.

Last month he said the St Anne’s Church Parochial Church Council (PCC) was keen to find a compromise and had offered an alternative meeting space within the building, but declined to grant the West End Extra permission to see this space despite repeated requests.

Soho Society chairwoman Fiona Rhys-Jenkins Bailey said the notice to vacate the premises was “invalid”.

At Tuesday’s meeting she said: “We have been legally advised that the purported notice to quit is invalid. We are having an extended executive meeting in the room, which we have paid rent on for the last 35 years.”

In a reference to the damage wrought on St Anne’s by Nazi bombs during the war, Society member Joan Martyr said: “This is wartime spirit. This place has been blitzed before.” 

In a statement released two weeks ago via a Diocese of London press officer, Father Gilmore said: “St Anne’s values its relationship with the Soho Society and is committed to working with them to find a suitable compromise which allows the Society to continue to use the church building. The offer of the PCC remains on the table should they wish to accept – however, the Parish must also fulfil its mission in the community. The hall is used by a wide range of community groups at reduced rates or on occasions for no fee. The last two Christmas Days the church has run a meal for those who are elderly or will spend Christmas alone. 

“However, at present we are very mindful of the need to raise funds which will allow us to continue to accommodate all of these groups and as such have had to look at our existing rental agreements. The Soho Society had been enjoying an extremely beneficial arrangement up until now which, unfortunately, we are no longer able to continue due to the financial constraints facing the parish. 

“The building requires significant work on it and it is by looking at the licences carefully as they arise that funds raised can assist not only in the maintenance of the building but the mission of the church. 

“It is important to remember this is property in W1 and the church is bound by the spirit of the Charities Act to maximise the assets for the benefit of the charity.”

The Soho Society is consulted by Westminster Council on planning matters and helped restore parts of St Anne’s Church during the development of the area in the 1970s.

Both Father Gilmore and the Diocese of London were invited to comment further following this week’s developments but declined to do so.