Union Concert Hall refurbished with £220,000 grant

Plans have been announced for a major refurbishment of the Imperial College Union Concert Hall, to be funded by a grant from the Harlington Trust. The space is currently used by a number of different groups, including the Drama, Musical Theatre and Cinema societies. The refurbishment is aimed at improving the technical capabilities of the Concert Hall.

The Harlington Trust was created in 1989 to manage the profit from the selloff of gravel excavated during the redevelopment of the College’s playing fields in Harlington. Each year the Trust awards up to £50,000 to Union clubs and societies to improve their facilities or equipment. The £220,000 redevelopment grant comes after the Trust’s Committee decided on a one off increase to the funding available, to assist with the ongoing redevelopment of the Union building. A number of other improvements, including a full scale redevelopment of the Union’s media facilities in the Beit West Basement, are being funded directly the College and Union.

Union President David Goldsmith, praised the awarding of the grant, adding: “The Union Concert Hall is a space used by student groups throughout the year and this refurbishment is going to make a real difference to so many students. The Harlington Grants Fund is an important source of funding for many of our student groups and seeing it being used on a larger project like this is really exciting.”

The Trust also provided £30,000 to buy new equipment for the gym at the College’s Silwood Campus and a number of smaller grants were made to individual student groups. Professor Debra Humphris, Vice Provost (Education) and Chair of the Harlington Committee, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to award this funding to two extremely worthwhile projects. I’m really proud that all the money we are able to give through the Harlington Grants Fund goes straight to student groups to improve the student experience here at Imperial. The Union Concert Hall in particular is a really important facility on campus and I can’t wait to visit and see how students are using the refurbished space!”

Applications for Harlington Trust Grants from Union societies continue to be accepted throughout the year.

Deputy President (Clubs & Societies) Yas Edwards, said “The Harlington Trust agreed the funding of £215,000 for the project. We are working with the principle authors of the original bid to develop the plans at present. Our intention is that the space will be improved, allowing more drama and music groups to make regular use of the space”