The Willesden Trades Hall building has played a significant role in the social history of Willesden since the early 20th Century. It is located at 375 High Road, Willesden, London NW10 2JR and is a short walk from Dollis Hill underground station.
The Hall has hosted events for Sylvia Pankhurst, Nelson Mandela, amongst others. The General Strike in 1926, the Hunger Marches, the Grunwick Strike (1976 – 1978) and the Kent Miners during the miners strike, for example, were based and organised from the Hall. The building has also hosted community events for over a century, including live reggae music in the Apollo Club which was launched on the ground floor of the building in 1969 by Bob Marley.
The building closed to the community just before the COVID-19 pandemic. A new charity, the Willesden Trades Hall Charity, has recently been established with the aim of repairing and renovating the historic building for the benefit of local, and wider Brent, communities.
The Willesden Trades Hall Charity has been awarded initial funding by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to explore how the building could become a viable community asset, including looking at the building's condition, what it will cost to repair it, and what new uses it could provide. This first grant is an exciting and critical moment on the journey to revive Willesden Trades Hall over the coming years.
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE BUILDING: https://shorturl.at/rT6BR
A first step - we need your thoughts
We want to understand what you think about this plan. Do you support the idea of repairing and reusing the building for community use? How could the building be of benefit to Brent residents and organisations? Over the next few months, we will be consulting with the community and local stakeholders to help us create some possible options for the future of the building. We will be coming back to the community to show these options as they are developed to get feedback. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.
