A SAVE-our-gym campaign was launched this week after a historic community space was agreed to be sold off by a charity that said it could no longer afford to keep it open.

The Extra can reveal that West End landowner Shaftesbury is set to buy the lease of the listed Jubilee Hall building from the Jubilee Hall Trust.

Gym members have launched a petition to stop the sale and closure of the facility that was at the centre of the “Battle for Covent Garden” 40 years ago.

Charity chiefs said that since the Covid-19 pandemic the number of people coming to work in Covent Garden, which it said made up the vast majority of its membership, has significantly reduced. Demand has not recovered since the pandemic and maintenance costs of the Grade II-listed building are also considered too high at the charity.

But a petition from gym users said trustees were giving up on it too easily. “We believe they should consult with stakeholders and industry experts to decide the best course of action so that revenue can be increased, expenditure becomes more efficient, and the gym continues to impact positively on the Covent Garden and wider community for years to come,” it said. “Losing the gym would mean fewer fitness options, less recreational space, and a loss of community cohesion.

“Therefore, we implore decision-makers involved to reconsider any plans to sell and close down the gym.”

The gym was set up in 1984 following a campaign by the community which secured a 125-year lease on the hall at a peppercorn rent. It had been used as a community space since 1977 and was part of the campaign to stop the area being destroyed by corporate developers wanting to demolish and install office blocks.

The old Greater London Council initially had a plan to redevelop the 20 acres of land it owned, but it ended up being sold after the authority was disbanded and its assets put up for sale.

The Covent Garden Community Association was at the forefront of a people-power campaign to stop some of the redevelopment and save social housing which was due to be smashed down.

Elizabeth Bax, a current co-chair of the CGCA, said the decision to put the lease on the market was made “in secret and surprised us all”.

And a statement from the association added: “Jubilee Hall has continued since 1984 as a community gym. It actively serves the disabled and provides many unique services for the disadvantaged. Covent Garden itself has about 7,000 residents but, being so central, the gym serves people from far wider areas. It has a long history of serving the entertainment industry as well as the LGBTQ+ community, with actors, ballet dancers, and performers as its members.”

A JHT statement said “Since Covid, the cost-of-living and the energy crisis, it has been much more difficult to make the charity financially viable and the gym in Covent Garden commercial operation, has suffered due to falling membership.

“The gym is located in a beautiful Grade II-listed building and is extremely expensive to maintain, This means it is no longer a viable business. This process has taken place over a 15-month period, where the lease was openly marketed. Having received a number of offers, the best outcome to meet the goals of the charity was through the freeholder, themselves a long-term investor in the district with a strong track record of community support.

“We are already in discussions with a number of parties to find new locations in which we can continue the important work we do. Taking these steps will secure our future and enable Jubilee Hall Trust to continue improving the lives of our local communities – as we have been doing since the 1970s – for many years to come.”