The Jubilee Hall, a Grade II-listed sports hall based on the Covent Garden piazza

A LONG-STANDING group, originally formed to save the historic Covent Garden market from bulldozers, hopes to secure the future of a community sports centre threatened with closure.

The Covent Garden Community Association announced this week it has raised funds to bid to take over the Jubilee Hall, a Grade II-listed sports hall based on the Covent Garden piazza.

The plans would see the centre remain open for sports use and the association has partnered with a gym provider to help get their bid over the line.

Last year the charity which runs the space, the Jubilee Hall Trust, said it could no longer afford high running costs and it was looking to sell the building. It was rumoured that West End landlords Shaftesbury were in talks to take on the site, but a campaign from users saw the hall listed as an ACV, asset of community value.

The trust said numbers using the hall had fallen dramatically after the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining a listed building and dealing with soaring energy costs was too expensive.

Users and residents held a public meeting at the nearby St Paul’s Church earlier this year and vowed to fight to keep it as a community-run charity. As an official community asset in planning terms, interested community groups were given six months to put together a plan to run the site before it could be sold.

The CGCA has done just that and has put together the bid which the charity’s four remaining trustees will now consider. The association said its proposals will ensure the hall remains community-owned and accountable, and remain a sports centre focusing on fitness and wellbeing, in line with a covenant placed on the building in the late 1970s.

It added that it is working with a well-known gym group to help manage the space and it has committed to putting in £250,000 of new gym equipment, retain all staff on increased wages in line with the London Living Wage, and create a staff training programme to improve the experience for users.

There is also plan to cap profits to keep the space affordable.

Elizabeth Bax, co-chair of the association, said: “This bid is a milestone in protecting Jubilee Hall for future generations. Our community has come together to ensure the hall remains a community sports facility, with investment, fair pay for staff, and a clear plan for growth. Jubilee Hall is not just a gym, it is a vital community space in the heart of Covent Garden.”

She added the plan had the support of councillors and the “Two Cities” Labour MP Rachel Blake, as well as other community groups and residents’ associations.

The Jubilee Hall Recreation Centre opened in 1978 on a temporary basis after the Covent Garden fruit and veg market moved to Nine Elms.

Residents cleaned out the hall and set up a gym.

Jubilee Hall Trust also manages The Armoury gym in Hampstead, based in an old army barracks and drill hall, as well as a gym in the House of Commons and another in Southwark.

Jon Giles, trust chief executive, said: “We are very grateful for the community in coming together with an offer and we are also considering an offer from a large social enterprise who also specialise in running leisure spaces specifically for the community. Trustees will be working through the options carefully, to ensure that they each present a genuine and reliable proposition for Jubilee Hall to remain open for community use for years to come. Over the coming weeks we will be carry out our due diligence on both offers and will announce the preferred bidder when permitted to do so in line with agreed confidentiality terms.”