Liberty Hall: Campaign to turn abandoned loo into village hall gets underway with £270,000 funding from Hackney Council

A five-year campaign to turn a toilet block that was abandoned 30 years ago into a thriving community café has overcome its first hurdle, after Hackney Council pledged to spend £270,000 restoring the building.

The Mayor of Hackney and community and faith leaders display posters which symbolise the future functions of Liberty Hall. Picture: Max Colson - Credit: Matthew Freeman

But community group alliance, Clapton Commons, still needs to raise £50,000 to fit out what will become a community cooking school in Clapton Common.

It is hoped the community kitchen run by social enterprise Made in Hackney, event space and bike repair clinic will become a hub to bring people together from different backgrounds.

The plan is to hold monthly community meals in the 700 square foot building, nicknamed “Liberty Hall” because of its mock-Tudor look.

Work on the shell of the building will begin next month, and should be complete by May.

The Mayor of Hackney joined the Bishop of Stepney and Rabbi Avrohom Pinter on Saturday to mark the start of a crowd funding campaign.

To donate see spacehive.com/libertyhall.