Budget cuts were approved at last night’s Council meeting. The William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum will be closed Monday - Wednesday and on Thursday & Friday mornings and staff are to lose jobs. A full account of the meeting to be published soon. Please keep sending letters, to the MPs, Councillors and Press. Keep up the pressure!
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We’ve just heard that the Council meeting enforcing the budget cuts to the William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum is being held this evening (Feb 22nd) in the council chamber in Waltham Forest Town Hall. Late in the day as it is, a strong show of support for the museums in the public gallery will at least serve to draw attention to our cause.
The meeting starts at 19.30.
Please come and show your support and call others!
Thank you.
A meeting has been organised for next Tuesday 27 February from 7-8pm at the Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe Street [near the Bakers Arms].
The idea is to have a planning come brainstorming session about a celebration of the life and ideas of William Morris, AND a protest about Councils threat.
All the arts are to be involved, across the board, as William himself would have it. Music, spoken word, visuals, film/photography, poetry, gothic fantasies, chants and political anger.
Please forward this to others who would be interested. Contact Roger Huddle to express interest and for more info.
See page 13 of this weeks Private Eye - the ‘Rotten Boroughs’ section.
Private Eyes website
Over 200 People Participate in the Mass Visit Tues 13th Feb
Over 200 people participated in the mass visit to William Morris Gallery and were met with a passionate speech by Martin Stutchfield outlining the issues the Gallery and its staff face. The visitors consisted of over 60 parents and children from the Lloyd Park Centre, members of the Friends of the William Morris Gallery and the general public.Cllr Naz Sakar made an attempt to explain the council’s policy but it was unclear whether this has been properly thought through and to what extent the staff were backing it.
The visitors all felt very passionate about the damage the council is doing to the Gallery and vowed to continue the fight until the council comes up with a sustainable policy for the Gallery.
See the Photos page.
The attached Word document is the text of a letter dated 6 February from Dr Colin JK Cunningham MA, PhD, FSA, a professional architectural historian and former Chairman of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, based in Cambridge, to Cllr Naz Sarkar, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Arts & Culture at LBWF.
Despite recent public protest the Council Cabinet held an urgency meeting on 6 February to agree proposals to restrict the opening times of the William Morris Gallery and Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow.
Read more
On the eve of the Councils decision about the future of VHM and WMG, we’d like to extend a warm thank you to our American friends at William Morris Society for their valued support.