Saving BGWLC: update September 2025
Following a recent meeting with Tower Hamlets council, they have extended BGWLC’s eviction notice to October 2026.
For the last 12 months, the club and our members have been trying to save the club from closure. In that time, we have received an overwhelming amount of support, including several media pieces and opportunities to highlight our members and history. With our lawyers, we secured several short extensions to the eviction notice. This latest development does not mean we get to stay, but it does give us more time to work with the council and plan ahead for the future of Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club.
This extension also means we will reach our official 100 year birthday in our historic home on Turin Street, which not too long ago appeared out of reach. Thank you to our trustees, members and friends all over the world for helping to make this happen.
We are still appealing for support and signatures to continue building our case. Thank you.
SIGN OUR PETITION HERE
Saving BGWLC: media round-up
Huck Mag article
“The UK’s oldest weightlifting gym is under threat. Can it weather gentrification?”
BBC Article
“Weightlifting club faces axe after almost 100 years”
Will Tennyson video
“I Investigated a Gym That’s Disappearing”
White Lights Media video
“Inside the UK’s oldest gym”
The Strong Women of BGWLC
“Meet the strongwomen of the Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club”
Find us in Men’s Health, September 2025
December 2024: Tower Hamlets Council are Evicting London’s Oldest Weightlifting Club
Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club (BGWLC) was established in 1926. The club has occupied its current premises on Turin Street since 1948. It is a community-run non-profit organisation.
Earlier this year, Tower Hamlets Council served the Club with a notice informing them that their lease was to be terminated on 31 January. There was no preceding communication, no discussion, just a notice terminating the lease.
Head Coach Martin Bass was perplexed “we’ve been here almost 80 years, they know who we are, they’ve got our phone numbers, why didn’t they just talk to us?”
The notice gave no information about what the Council intended save that the Council intend to occupy the gym premises itself and that the Club had to get out.
When the Council Officers consented to a video conference, the Club’s representatives were told that the whole site was going to be redeveloped, although they couldn’t know why – that was confidential.
One promising note was that the Officers seemed keen to help the Club work out some constructive next steps. The possibility of alternative accommodation was discussed.
Then nothing.
The Club attempted to contact the Council Officer who had led the meeting, only to discover that he had left the Council. His replacement did not respond to the Club’s request for further engagement.
Martin continues – “we didn’t understand why they wouldn’t talk to us. We approached them in good faith but they weren’t telling us anything.”
The Club began to realise that the “whole site” which was being developed was not just the club’s Gym but in fact the much larger “Professional Development Centre” (PDC) nearby. The reason for the redevelopment was the Mayor’s signature “Institute of Academic Excellence” – an ambitious plan to create a new sixth-form college for high-achieving students in the Borough.
Freedom of Information Act requests revealed that the Council had no formally approved budget, no planning applications and most confusing of all, that the role of the Gym building “[had] not been finalised yet and will be part of separate consideration.”
The Council’s own Scrutiny Committee minutes from September reveal that the IAE budget has been reduced and:
[T]he project is now proceeding as a remodelling/refurbishment scheme. When the budget was originally set it assumed a full demolition and rebuild and that works would commence this year. However, the latest position assumes that a refurbishment only scheme will be required, and that works are now anticipated to commence later in the overall timescales for the project[.]
The PDC and the Gym are entirely separate buildings with separate entrances and a large car park in-between. It was not clear why the now-delayed redevelopment of the PDC required the urgent eviction of the Club.
Wondering if there was some disconnect between the political intent and the actions of the Council Officers, Club representatives attended a Surgery with Councillor Kabir Ahmed. As both Ward Councillor for Weavers Ward (the location of the Gym) and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Ahmed seemed ideally placed to clarify the situation.
The Councillor explained that the Council had decided to repurpose the building as a “Residents Hub” and that this was a settled plan. When the Club’s representatives raised the FoI response – “not been finalised yet” – the Councillor said that it wasn’t yet a formal matter.
The Councillor was not able to explain why the Gym was the only place that a Residents Hub could be located, nor how a project with no official record, budget or planning permission could go ahead with such urgency.
Martin is philosophical – “The irony is, when we first heard about the IAE we thought it was a great idea. We saw a real opportunity for partnership. The Club has delivered services on behalf of the council for most of the last sixty years. The idea of opening extra sessions to train those students – a healthy mind in a healthy body – we were delighted. We’re an asset to the community and the Council just can’t seem to see it.”
The Club will continue to pursue a constructive solution with the Council
Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club 