How You Can Help - Write to the Mayor of London & Meg Hillier MP!

A staggering amount of people have gotten in touch expressing their solidarity, offers of help and COSMIC LOVE... and we are just totally blown away. Thank you for everything. Your messages mean so much to us at this trying time.

We've asked people to get in touch with new London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, and local MP Meg Hillier, and in response we've had a few requests to do a basic email template that people can use. Feel free to use the following email/tweet templates, and add your own comments, or edit it to suit you. Together we can make our voices heard!

SADIQ KAHN -

EMAIL: [email protected]

Dear Sadiq Kahn,

As the Mayor of London, I implore you to save London's culture and nightlife scene, specifically Passing Clouds in Dalston.

A huge part of your campaign (and a large part of why so many people voted for you) was your promise to save London's nightlife.

Unfortunately since you've started your term we have lost the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park, and 50 people are suddenly unemployed, due to Passing Clouds in Dalston losing their fight against property developers. It's also worth mentioning that Dalston's Dance Tunnel is set to close this month due to licensing issues, with Shapes in Hackney Wick and Fabric suffering from similar fates.

I understand that property developers will always exist, and seek to turn our diverse melting pots of culture into colourless offices and flats, available only to the wealthy of London. Therefore I see it as your responsibilty to make good on the promises you made during your campaign, and step in to protect our culture and heritage.

Sadiq, will you help save London's culture? Will you help save countless jobs? Will you protect community centres like Passing Clouds that provide a platform for up and coming artists, and allow people of diverse cultures, ages, races and backgrounds to come together in harmony? And where is this "Night Czar" you spoke of during your campaign?

I look forward to hearing a response from you.

Best wishes,

Your name here
 

TWEET: @MayorofLondon

Dear @MayorofLondon, will you stand behind your electoral promises and step in to protect important cultural venues like @passingclouds? 

MEG HILLIER MP -

EMAIL: [email protected]

Dear Meg Hillier MP,
 

I write to you today to implore you to step in and save my local community arts centre, Passing Clouds.

I understand Passing Clouds has recently submitted an application to be considered an Asset of Community Value. I stand behind this, and strongly urge you to support their application.

Passing Clouds has provided a unique space in Dalston for the past ten years, bringing people of diverse cultures, ages and backgrounds together in harmony. It has provided a free space for countless groups such as Permaculture Picturehouse, the Hackney Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and the People's Kitchen, to grow and develop, and also to educate the community.

In your manifesto you vowed to continue to fight and stand up for Hackney. Since Passing Clouds have closed their doors, it has resulted in the loss of over 50 jobs, severely affected the livelihoods of hundreds more in the form of promoters, musicians, artists, DJs and local businesses, and has generally had a devastating impact on the local borough.

In a recent Independent article, you were quoted as saying "Live music venues such as Passing Clouds are part of what makes Hackney and Dalston a magnet for creatives and a hotspot in our city’s leisure life. It is vital that developers and planners recognise that it is venues like these that contribute so much to make areas desirable. If these are lost, some of the very reasons why Hackney is such a popular place to live and work are undermined.”

It's extremely unlikely that developers and planners will stop developing important cultural sites such as Passing Clouds of their own volition. So what do you plan to do to make sure they recognise the importance of venues like this? Wandsworth Council have recently told the owners of 120 bars and pubs that they have to seek councillors’ approval before changing the building’s use or knocking it down. Wandsworth said the 120 sites were chosen “due to their historic or architectural value or because they make a positive contribution to their community”. Why can't we do this for Hackney?

I look forward to your reply,

Your name here
 

TWEET: @Meg_HillierMP

Dear @Meg_HillierMP, Wandsworth Council have stepped in to protect their nightlife and culture. Will you do the same for @passingclouds?

With infinite thanks, love and blessings, from Passing Clouds xxx

***IMPORTANT CAMPAIGN UPDATE - FOR THE SECOND TIME PASSING CLOUDS UNLAWFULLY OCCUPIED AND SECURED BY COUNTRY ENFORCEMENT GROUP***

Dear Passing Clouds Community,

As you may have already heard there have been some dramatic developments in the ongoing battle for Passing Clouds’ survival. Only a couple of weeks ago, following a successful meeting with our landlords Landhold Developments and their solicitors, we were formally offered in writing a new 15 year lease. There had been a substantial 320% rent increase required but, as we were in negotiations, we were asked to work on a business plan and come back with our thoughts so we could enter into the the next stage. 

However, just 5 days after receiving the lease offer we found our building plastered in eviction proceedings and were duly taken to court. We were given an adjournment of only 4 working days in which to seek specialist legal advice. At the second court date we argued that we hadn’t had enough time to prepare our case but the judge claimed that we had no case at all and ordered possession forthwith. By law, District Judge Manners should have recused herself (stepped down from proceedings) as she had been the judge who ruled against us in an identical situation 5 years previously with our previous landlady. In that case she had also said we had no legal defence and refused an adjournment and possession forthwith. We subsequently proved her wrong by putting in a appeal, demonstrated that we did in fact have a very strong case and won the lease back. In court we told Judge Manners that she was biased and should not be sitting on the case, to which she responded “Yes, I am biased”. She still refused to step down. 

We therefore are certain that we have a very strong case for appeal in the High Court, especially since we had just been offered a lease just a few days before. In what we believe is a deliberate attempt to prevent us from going to the High Court to obtain a stay of execution on the possession order, Landhold and their solicitors Philip Ross & Co. rushed through a possession in just one working day, forcibly breaking into Passing Clouds at 4am on Tuesday 15th August with a team of more than 40 bailiffs and a specialist climbing team. 

Sadly County Enforcement Group are now in full time occupation of the building and our windows and doors are boarded up with metal hoardings. We do not believe that they had obtained the necessary legal paperwork to enforce the eviction and therefore it is once again unlawful. As a result, we are now starting a High Court action against Landcom North London Ltd, Garry Simpson (director of Landhold Developments), Philip Ross Solicitors, and County Enforcement Group for breach of contract, fraud, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to cause economic loss. 

Further to this we are going to be making a claim for damages to cover the cost of purchasing a suitable venue that we have found in the local area at a price tag of £20m. We have spent 6 years looking for numerous venues in London to which to relocate our business without success and we therefore see this as the only viable circumstance in which Passing Clouds can continue without it’s present building. In addition we will be suing for costs associated with damage to our business, to our reputation, to our brand and to the lives of all the staff, musicians, promoters, and the local community who have suffered financial loss, emotional trauma and personal duress as a result of this malicious and unlawful action. 

We have endured a 9-month litany of deceit, broken promises and fraudulent offers made by Landhold in what we can only assume was a deliberate and thoroughly underhand attempt to double-cross us and disable our ability to counteract this unscrupulous behaviour from nothing less than rogue and unlawful property developers. Therefore, with the support of a large number of concerned community groups and campaign organisations, dignitaries and national media, on the 10th September 2016 Passing Clouds is organising the March For London’s Dead Culture in the Dalston area to raise further awareness of the devastating plight that Passing Clouds has suffered, and in solidarity with other groups who have suffered at the hands of Landcom North London (Landhold Developments), or other underhand development companies in our community. More details will be forthcoming and we strongly urge everyone who loves Passing Clouds, or has been affected by the onslaught of the malevolent behemoth of rogue property developers, to be involved in this important and historic occasion. 

Following the March we will be making formal representations to the new mayor of Hackney (who will be sworn in a few days after), calling for a public consultation on the future of Passing Clouds’ building, and for the mayors of London and Hackney to draw up a watchlist of rogue property developers. 

In the meantime if you would like to ask any further questions regarding this matter, or voice your concerns about what has happened to us, please contact one or all of the following: 

Landhold Developments - [email protected]/020 8446 6700 

MP Meg Hillier - [email protected]/@Meg_HillierMP

Mayor Sadiq Khan who is publicly campaigning to protect music scene - [email protected]/@SadiqKhan 

With your continued help and support this is not the end, this is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of PC and the wider community that it represents. We have a full-time campaign office upstairs at The Hagerstown pub who have been amazingly supportive and accommodating. If you would like to come down, please get in touch via [email protected].

Much love and eternal blessings xxx

#PassingCloudsForever

Lammas-KABLAMMAS!

On a balmy July evening in Dalston, people dressed in glitter and gold can be seen moving down Kingsland road, winding their ways down to a small purple building that sits above the railway under a warm summer sky….

Here was a night that saw everything from drum and bass to electro swing and even “Bella Ciao” fill the ears, heads, and hearts of an incredible crowd who throughout the whole night had huge smiles on their faces and glittery limbs in the air. In true Cloud Factory Adventures style, the venue was decked out and looking mighty beautiful for the evening too, if we do say so ourselves! Covered in shiny flags, fairy lights, and drapery that reflected colourful light all around the room, the atmosphere inside that was another world, far from the grey London pavement outside!

The Correspondents did not fail to live up to expectations, providing a thrilling and electrifying set with the charismatic duo of Mr. Bruce and Chucks commanding the attention of everybody in the room. With a unique and intoxicating blend of electro, ska, drum and bass and jazz filling the room, there was even a spot of stage diving!

As you can see from this video that perfectly captures the incredible vibe of the whole night, the bouncing crowd were more than happy to take a wild Mr. Bruce into their arms - the energy in the room was electric!

Entertainment was to be found everywhere, with the enchanting Forgotten Circus bringing bewitching fire play to the night sky while people looked on in awe!

Back inside, Buffo’s Wake brought an accordion, violin and cello up on stage, presenting their eclectic gypsy-punk sound and bringing knees up to their storming, energetic vibe! Dressed in glitter and madness with an energy to match, the boys and girls of the band certainly made us move and shake!

The festivities went on until the early hours, as the pastel glow of day slowly started to creep across the sky and another unmissable night at Passing Clouds slowly drew to a close with people embracing and chatting back down the street.

Big big love to The Correspondents, Buffo’s Wake, Roscius, DJ GypsyBox, Forgotten Circus, C@ in the H@, Fizzy Gillespie, Hype & Fever, and all the staff & crew involved in organising the night, and of course the beautiful people who attended and created such a mad vibe!

We're already excited for Cloud Factory Adventures' next party - Autumn Equinox on 24th September! Like their page here to stay up to date with the latest! Love and kisses from the Clouds xx

Oh! And don't forget to sign our petition to support our campaign and keep #PassingCloudsForever!

Written by Katherine Shapiro

Congo Natty Family Showcase July 22nd 2016

For our 10 year anniversary celebrations, Congo Natty AKA Rebel MC and his family & crew dropped more than 3 hours of live music, transforming our beloved Passing Clouds into a wild and crowded jungle! As core crew member Virgo Don wrote:

“The gig was a complete roadblock. What a crowd! What a vibe! What an absolute gem of a night! The love they showed was unreal!”

We couldn’t say it any better ourselves! The building surely rose a couple of inches off the ground due to the intense bass lines and jungle rhythms that tore through the venue till 4am, and of course the the cosmic love of the crowd was giving off an intense energy! It was by far one of our most intense and electrifying nights we've ever had at Passing Clouds! The gig – when it wasn’t peppered with gun-finger shots, clashing MCs, and #PassingCloudsForever shouts – served as a long-form tribute to Jonathan Sutter AKA Tenor Fly, a close member of the Congo Natty crew who sadly left us on the 19th of June 2016.

The music kicked off with UK hip hop, fusing into Niyahbinghi roots, dropping into future dub tracks, and ending with old school jungle music. The takeover fused the power of British and Jamaican music, giving a nod to the Notting Hill Carnival tradition. Have a glance at the night thanks to this banging video of 'Tarantula' in tribute to Tenor Fly:

As a small independent music venue with restricted capacity, Passing Clouds was soon filled to the brim with Congo Natty fans! The pioneer of jungle music who grow up in South Tottenham assembled an ecstatic crowd who exhibited remarkable patience as the queue began to wind down past the Haggerston Pub to Kingsland Road!

We apologise to any person who could not make it in or had to wait!

Congo Natty AKA Rebel MC represented in style with some exceptional talents from the Congo Natty family - KLASHNEKOFF, Congo Dubz, Kaya Fiyah, Buggsy, Nanci Ninja and Virgo Don showed great support towards our #PassingCloudsForever campaign!

Whereas Congo Natty said the following great words of support:

“It is very important to keep a place like Passing Clouds open, because there are very

few real underground music venues in London city.

With no disrespect, there is no love when it comes from the global organisation.

So we’re here tonight, spreading love through word, sounds, power, jungle music.

Music is a revolution.

We are part of the revolution.

So we want big up all the revolutionary crew - we are the sons and daughters of slave

trade that took place in the European disapora; we are the children of slaves, and we

are free to spread out music through word, sounds and power.

This is Jungle - this is the revolution."

Be part of the revolution and spread the love! Sign and share our petition or even help us out with a donation to fund the cost of our campaign.

One Love, from Passing Clouds

#PassingCloudsForever

Behind The Scenes at Passing Clouds: Meet Ella!

Here at Passing Clouds, we'd like to introduce you to some of the people that work behind the scenes and make our weekly events and late night parties actually happen. So we've started this 'Behind The Scenes' series that will acquaint you with the core members of our team, who make Passing Clouds the dynamic & sparkly place that it is today!

We're kicking it off with our amazing decor designer Ella Lynch. Not only does she maintain the venue, she also creates custom costumes for the staff, and makes all of the glittery goodness that we provide for people's birthday celebrations! Ella is an absolute diamond. Her ability to create all of the building's decor on a budget, and constantly come up with new & innovative ideas, is truly instrumental to our organisation. We couldn't do it without her!

Ella rocking a Sun Ra Arkestra headdress!

Us: What were your first impressions of Passing Clouds?

Ella: Like most people’s first experience of the venue, I was quite mesmerised. Passing Clouds puts on these crazy parties that you just can’t find anywhere in London so I was just so happy i found it. It really felt like a wonderland.

Adding some flowers to one of our signature tribal masks

Us: Tell us about your current job role (and how you got there!)

Ella: I started as a bartender so that I could fund my own artwork; at the time I was making sets, costumes and headdresses. During this period, the venue was going through renovations and had consequently left the building looking quite unloved. The management were looking to bring in a creative director to work on the decor and to get the venue looking wonderful again so I put myself forward and was luckily given the job! My role involves maintaining and creating decor, making costumes, creating sets and pieces for events and generally controlling how the venue looks. My job is amazing.

Balthazar is a magical purple dragon-type creation with plasma eyes, made especially for Beatroots

Us: What makes you happiest about your job?

Ella: The fact that I am doing what I love doing everyday and that I am allowed to create whatever I like, no matter how weird.

Us: What has been your favourite decor project that you've undertaken?

Ella: They have all been so much fun but probably the goddess party last year that was all about celebrating the female. For this I made a humungous boob and hung it on the stage, I also made the staircase and landing into a womb and birth canal with a big vagina at the entrance.

Thanks for everything that you do Ella! You are indispensible, and damn funky too!

Follow her on Instagram to stay up to date with her latest creations: @bobbydazzler__

Did you know that Passing Clouds employs over 50 people? If you'd like to support our campaign, and preserve this unique space that fosters creativity, please sign & share our petition! One love, Passing Clouds xxx

Calling All Hosts!!! Passing Clouds Needs YOU!

Passing Clouds are looking for two hosts to increase the peace and set the vibe.

You will be responsible for maintaining the flow of our external smoking area, or our internal stair space. You will be responsible for making sure people do not go outside with drinks, that people are not using the toilets to take drugs, loitering on the stairs or using the side door. In the event of a fire you will be responsible for getting people out of the building safely. You will be connected to security via radio.

You also need to be a sociable character, perhaps an actor or just one of those people that enjoy making life interesting. You will need to be dressed up in full festive regalia - this is a party! You will also be covering people with glitter, giving blessings as and when they are required, answering any questions people might have about Passing Clouds and the campaigns that we are working on, taking emails, sharing declarations of love etc. We expect you to be creative in coming up with ideas for maximising the potential of your role.

Please email a covering letter and CV to [email protected]

Hours will be 10pm - 4am Friday and Saturday nights. £8ph.

Love and kisses from the Clouds xxx

 

How You Can Help!

<div style="padding-bottom:66.66667175292969%;" class="image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio" data-description="<p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12pt">Thank you so much for your amazing support and help ever since we found out that Passing Clouds was secretly sold to developers <strong>Landhold Developments</strong> last November. And thank you even MORE for the extraordinary display of solidarity, love and commitment you have shown us since we enacted a lawful eviction of <strong>County Enforcement Group</strong>, the private security firm posing as bailiffs who <strong>unlawfully occupied Passing Clouds</strong> at 6:30am on Thursday morning. (Read the full story in Time Out <a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/nightlife/developers-locked-passing-clouds-out-of-their-own-venue-so-they-just-broke-back-in-and-carried-on"><strong>HERE</strong></a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt">We are truly humbled and overwhelmed by all the incredible messages of <strong>support and solidarity</strong>, and forever grateful to all those who have made it possible for us to <strong>reclaim our home </strong>and maintain security of the venue. Too many to name but you know who you are and <strong>WE LOVE YOU ALL!</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt">We feel that our greatest possibility of success in maintaining possession of our precious venue will be a <strong>tidal wave of support from the public</strong>, the press, political figures, campaign groups, celebrities and our own community whilst at the same time progressing negotiations with Landhold to sell us the building. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt">And for this <strong>WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt">Here are <strong>12 things that you can do</strong> to help the campaign:</span></p><p><strong>1. Sign and share our change.org petition</strong></p><p>At the time of writing we are at just under 3,000 signatures - we need millions!! Remember that this is not just about Passing Clouds. Communities are being destroyed by property developers everywhere and it needs to stop NOW. Click <a target="_blank" href="https://www.change.org/p/garry-simpson-protect-passing-clouds-music-venue-for-life?recruiter=33346158&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink"><strong>HERE</strong></a> to ask Landhold Developments to protect Passing Clouds for life. </p><p><strong>2. Make a donation to our JustGiving page</strong></p><p>Even if it’s as little as £1. We desperately need the funds necessary to make this campaign go through the roof and anything you can donate will be deeply appreciated and put to g