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Fabric to donate legal fund to “other worthy causes within the industry”

By | Published on Wednesday 23 November 2016

Fabric

Fabric yesterday published its latest ‘transparency statement’ explaining how it is spending the £300,000+ donated to help the London club fight the decision of Islington Council earlier this year to revoke its licence.

The latest statement follows the news that Fabric had reached a deal with the Council that means it will, in fact, get its licence back and be able to re-open for business. That agreement, which involved the club committing to a string of new security measures while issuing a very conciliatory statement defending the actions of both the police and council officials, will mean Fabric no longer has to pursue an appeal through the courts.

The deal with the local authority also means the club cannot make any further comment about its appeal bid, though the transparency statement did include a transcript of what Fabric’s legal rep, Philip Kolvin QC, said to the judge who had been overseeing the appeal process, which mainly summarises the new measures the club will introduce in a bid to placate licensing officials and make the venue super safe.

The transparency statement then thanks those who have supporting the campaign to reinstate Fabric’s licence. It says: “We owe so much to so many people for making this outcome possible. As such we’d like to express our deepest gratitude to the thousands of people who each played such a crucial role in getting us here”.

That includes, it added, “the 872 of you who wrote with great passion and persuasion to make representations in the Review Hearing, to the 160,000 who signed a petition of support, then there’s the 7000 of you who showed us so much generosity in funding the complex appeal process. You all made this outcome possible, so on behalf of everyone at Fabric, thank you”.

As expected, by avoiding actually having to fight Islington Council through the courts, Fabric is left with a considerable surplus of the monies donated by its supporters. That money, the club says, “will be used to help other worthy causes within the industry, including Philip Kolvin QC’s pursuance of licensing reform which is he currently championing. We will look to report on this in our final Transparency Statement”.

The statement concludes: “If you donated, keep an eye on your inbox as we will very shortly be inviting you to cement your part in Fabric’s history and be part of a piece of artwork we are creating to install in the club”.



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