About the Friends |
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1. The History
The Friends of the King's Hall and Winter Garden (Friends of KH&WG) was formed in 2000 following concerns that the building complex might be lapsing into a rather neglected condition. It was hoped that that the formation of an active Friends organisation would provide the necessary encouragement to promote work on the venue as an investment for the future.
A number of regular users decided to form a group that could work with the Council to improve the venue. A Committee was formed and quickly developed a close working relationship with representatives from Bradford Council. Variety and Music Hall Shows were staged by the Friends and played to full houses, indicating a strong level of local support for live entertainment at a professional level. Locally involved groups joined the committee, and there are currently representatives from the Airedale Symphony Orchestra, the Amateur Operatic Society, the Concert Club, the Civic Society, Ilkley literature Festival and Upstagers Theatre Group.
The Friends became a Registered Charitable Organisation on 3 October 2001, allowing it to obtain grants towards improvements from such as Ilkley Parish Council, the Lottery Fund and other local fund raising groups. This has enabled it to significantly boost the funds raised by its own events. With such active support and example from the Friends, Bradford Council was encouraged to look very positively at the future potential of Ilkley's prime entertainment facility. The result has been many hugely beneficial investments that have transformed all aspects of the appearance of the halls and the range and quality of the facilities that can be offered. Click here to see more detail on Bradford Council's website.
2. The Achievements
Ever since the formation of the Friends of the King's Hall & Winter Garden in 2000, there has been extremely close and effective co-operation between the committee and the officers from Bradford Council. There has always been open and constructive discussion as to the needs of the buildings, the priorities and the methods of funding - whether joint or solely from Council funds. The committee has been able to provide input from the users' viewpoint while the Council representatives have come from the point of view of the service provider. The result has been a stunning improvement in almost every aspect of the buildings, the facilities and 'customer' appreciation. Projects that have been completed over the period include:
King's Hall:
3. The Officers and Committee
The present officers and committee members are listed below. Please feel free to contact anyone known to you if you wish to express a view about the Friends and/or the work of the Committee. Alternatively you can email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
4. Members of the Friends of KH&WG - Data Protection
The European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became applicable as of May 25th, 2018 in all member states to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe. The Friends of the KH&WG hold fairly minimal data about their members and have developed a GDPR Policy which can be accessed by Clicking Here.
5. The future
The aim of the Friends is to continue to work in close co-operation with Bradford Council to improve the appearance and functionality of the King's Hall and Winter Garden complex and to strive to improve the range and quality of the facilities available to users. In broad terms this will include:
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