April 7

Hoxton Hall

In the early 1970s Hoxton Hall was staffed by May Scott, who had worked there for almost 30 years from
1944-1974, and one other paid support worker. There were some other session workers and volunteers. The salaries were paid by the Quaker trust that owned the building plus grants from the Inner London Education Authority and Hackney Council.
On her arrival, May Scott was struck by the strong sense of community she found and decided to run a programme of activities which, while maintaining some practical elements, would concentrate on enabling people of all ges to socialise together and develop their artistic talents. As a Quaker she encouraged discussion and worked on developing a consciousness towards peace and internationalism.
At that time the main activities were a five mornings a week Play club; an after school kids club; a twice a week evening Youth Club; a pottery club; a weekday Pensioners Lunch Club run by Social Services; a Pensioners choir and a Pensioners Club on Friday afternoons. Also Holiday Children’s Play schemes with volunteer helpers from all over Europe and North Africa had been run for a number of years. There was also a range of artistic practical and practical activities for adults.
May also realised that the theatre had a great potential and she began to hire it out. The theatre was hired out to a variety of groups on an ad hoc basis. A regular user was Terry Palmer, an actor and director, who mounted productions of Shakespeare plays drawing on his pool of professional actors who performed unpaid. There were also regular Old Time Music Halls; many of the Artistes had experience of the era of Variety Shows.