space for theatre makers, productions from local theatre clubs, a coffee shop, and other community focused activities. Since first opening in 1903, both professional and amateur performers trod its boards; including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and W.Y. Hurlstone. Even in the 1960s Shirley Bassey, Matt Munro and Johnny Dankworth were among the professional musicians who rehearsed here for performances at nearby Fairfield Halls in Croydon. History of Stanley Arts Originally named 'Stanley Halls' the venue is a grade II listed building first built in 1903. On its completion, William Stanley invited all the workmen to a supper at the Halls followed by an entertainment to which the wives and relatives of the men were invited. Stanley said that if “the building was not the most beautiful in the world, it was, at least, one of the most substantially built.” He hoped that the Halls would become a pleasant home of entertainment for all of them. The buildings were completed in stages, with Stanley Public Hall (the main hall and art gallery) opening in 1903, the clock tower and Upper Stanley Hall added in 1904 and the Technical Trade School in 1907. The Assembly room and Society Rooms, alongside offices and the venue secretary’s accommodation, were added in 1909 to complete the complex.Standing next to Stanley’s new technical trade school, which was inspired by the German Gewerbeschulen trade schools and was the first of its kind in Britain, it made perfect sense that the Stanley Halls complex should be used for purposes both educational and cultural. Initially the Halls hosted a wide array of educational classes, exhibitions and political debates. On March 2 1912, for example, it was reported that “a spirited debate on Votes for Women” took place at Stanley Upper Hall where Alice Abadam (president of the National Women’s Suffrage Society and resident of Upper Norwood) spoke in favour of women’s right to vote. Other speakers in later years, who have followed in Alice Abadam’s footsteps on the stage of Stanley Hall, include Harold Wilson and John Smith. Stanley Arts - community and social events During the War Years, first aid courses are thought to have taken place here and the building may have been used as temporary shelter for residents bombed out of their homes. It was also a centre for community celebrations and festivals such as the 1951 Festival of Britain and the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.