This beloved Hackney venue is at risk of closure
Sat inside the restored Victorian baths at 80 Eastway, the multi-use, not-for-profit space is a regular host of one of Time Out's top nights out in London, Giant Steps. But it's a lot more than that. The Bath House is home to a cafe, bar and multiple events spaces and studios where people go for things like community-led life drawing classes, ice bath sessions, craft workshops and live music of almost every kind. It describes itself as 'a local institution, fuelled by care and collectivism'.
Now, the Bath House has launched a petition calling on local leaders to intervene in the council's plan. It says that it was made without due process.
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On its website, the Bath House wrote: 'This is about more than a building—it's about who gets to shape our cities. The Bath House stands as a living model of what's possible when local people are empowered to lead: a self-sustaining civic hub generating not just public benefit, but deep social wealth.'
At the time of writing, the petition has gathered nearly 4,000 signatures. One signatory said 'I regularly come to London from Oxford just for the ecstatic dances at the Bath House. This community saved me and is a wonderful, healing, fantastic gem,' while another commented 'I can't imagine life without this space. It's been a home and a family for years now. It's an incredibly special places is so central to so many of our community'.
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Belfast Telegraph
16 hours ago
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Victorian house in south Belfast saved from being turned into apartments after campaign victory
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Time Out
a day ago
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Changemaker: Zandi Ndlovu
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Story is a powerful tool for change, and I am committed to doing more work telling the stories that will connect us across the world. What moment with young learners has stayed with you the most? Zandi Ndlovu: I've been working with Polo South Africa and we had an opportunity to visit my first primary school, Khuthala Primary in Soweto. It was so moving for me to tell them that I may live around the world now, but I started in that chair like you in a world that you couldn't imagine. A nine-year-old asked me, 'How long did it take for you to realise your dream?' You don't expect that from somebody so young, and we had incredible questions. I told her it takes your whole life and you're always moving toward it. It reminded me why we do this work. What would you say to young girls - or anyone - who feels like they don't fit in? Zandi Ndlovu: There's a superpower in not fitting in. Only you know the world that looks different to the discomfort that you currently feel. Only you can imagine the world that feels right to you, and when you build it, you build it for all the outliers in one way, shape or form, and home becomes global. What's one powerful shift you've seen in marine conservation recently? Zandi Ndlovu: At this year's United Nations Oceans Conference in France, they opened up the conference in a different way. It's usually all suits and policies. But this year it opened with indigenous voices from Papua New Guinea to the Western Indian Ocean. It was a moment of seeing science and indigenous knowledge working together, the idea that oral histories and community-led biodiversity protection are as crucial as policy. When you're not working, where do you recharge? Zandi Ndlovu: Windmill Beach is still a super favourite for diving, but Glencairn has my heart. I don't know if it's because the dolphins come past there almost every day, but I enjoy swimming there. Also, to keep me grounded these days, I'm painting and reading. 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