With the world in turmoil because of this catastrophic pandemic, it has of course been impossible for us to keep up our regular face-to-face meetings and all the activities that were supporting our campaign.  You will however be pleased to know that we are not being idle, as we wait to hear from the Minister what the outcome of the Public Inquiry might be.  This is now expected to happen after April, as the Public Inspector has up to then to trawl through all the material that has been submitted with the Inquiry, and then make a recommendation to Christopher Pincher, the Minister for Housing.  The Minister will then make up his own mind on whether he will follow or not the recommendation.  

So what have we been up to?  There have been endless zoom meetings within our 'core' group, to strategise re what can be done ,  to discuss the  many media pieces that have been appearing, for and against, ( have you seen the excellent article in the New Statesman by Sir Richard Evans,    https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2021/01/how-should-we-remember-holocaust , and Rowan Moore's interview with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch in the Guardian,  https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/dec/27/holocaust-survivor-anita-lasker-wallfisch-uk-holocaust-memorial-learning-centre ?), to find new support and galvanise old supporters.  There have been lots of searching parliamentary questions asked, and Freedom of Information requests regarding the rather murky financial background to the project.  Many new supporters of our cause have been appearing on the scene, including well-known personalities in politics and in educational circles.  Our morale is boosted by all this, though we do not of course under-estimate the weight of the bias against us.

Amongst many heart-warming new initiatives is the extremely generous offer from the acclaimed  musicians  Raphael Wallfisch and John York to perform on February 15th  at 8pm at St. John's Smith Square - a fundraising event for Save Victoria Tower Gardens .  The concert is for free, but any donations will be very gratefully received, as we will no doubt be facing more legal  costs in the near future.  To access the concert please go to the link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87194724271 and follow directions. You can find out more from the Save Victoria Tower Gardens website.  It will no doubt be a very special evening.  We very much hope you can make it, and will spread the word widely.  

Many thanks again for all your amazing support!

Website: www.SaveVictoriaTowerGardens.co.uk

Fundraising: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-victoria-tower-gardens/ (or via our Website, directly to The Thorney Island Society)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaveVTG/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/savevtg?lang=en