Terms and Conditions
-
Accredited Caterers
Catering within Hackney Venues buildings should all be from one of our accredited caterers in the first instance. These companies have all been vetted, have experience working in grade II listed buildings and have proven themselves to be capable of delivering important events such as weddings where service is crucial. They have also managed services of 300+ guests and guarantee professionalism. In the event you wish to use a caterer outside of the list, we will consider it depending on the reason. You will need to provide us with the reason why you cannot use anyone from the list & the full company name and contact details for the caterer you would like to use instead and also work alongside us to obtain the documentation from them as detailed here. Without receiving written confirmation back from your event coordinator that your request has been approved the caterer does not have permission to work in the venues, for this reason please refrain from going into any contractual agreements with them before you receive this. There will also be a kitchen buyout & administration fee of £535+VAT applicable when using a caterer outside of the accredited list and this will be added to your final balance invoice.
Only one caterer providing food is permitted per event, only one caterer can use the kitchen at a time for H&S and liability reasons.
Smaller events that are of 50 attendees or less are permitted to bring their own cold food by way of nibbles/sandwiches/snacks and soft drinks on the condition that the hirer agrees to clear away all food and drinks waste at the end of the hire period. The hirer should ensure they have means to take it away from the venue and that includes having waste sacks. The hirer should seek written permission from the events coordinator for this, prior to making arrangements.
Events larger than 50 attendees require a professional catering company with staff to manage the set up, service and clearing up.
No events are permitted to have hot food, reheat of food and alcohol unless a professional catering company is booked with waiting staff to manage this - drop off of food only is not permitted.
Note that BBQs and outdoor cooking is not permitted at any of our venues nor is the use of gas - including helium and frying of any kind is prohibited.
Alcohol
Our venues are fully licensed for the service and sale of alcohol. We do not permit a ‘bring your own’ option so that we are able to meet our licensing objectives, however if you have an agreement with your caterer to provide licensed bar staff to manage the set up, service and clearing away of alcohol you have brought yourself, that is permitted with written permission from your events coordinator.
Guests are not permitted to bring their own alcohol and security will make checks upon entry. Any alcohol found will be confiscated and returned upon exit of the venue.
Any events that will have under 18’s in attendance are not permitted to have alcohol service unless the minor is accompanied by their parent or carer - i.e at a family wedding.
Hackney Venues operate a ‘challenge 25’ policy and will brief bar staff to ask for identification at the point of service or sale to anyone who appears under 25. As the premises licence holder we reserve the right to refuse alcohol service to any persons appearing to be intoxicated, regardless of who the alcohol was provided by.
If at any point someone is behaving inappropriately they will be immediately removed from the venue and site by SIA trained security and no re entry will be permitted. If any persons resist leaving the premises and site the police will be informed. All incidents of non entry & removal are logged in the venue’s incident book and recorded on the council’s incident portal. All of our venues operate CCTV.
Sustainability
No single use plastics are permitted at any of the buildings, crockery should be used in the first instance but recyclable materials such as paper/cardboard and vegware are permitted.
Special restrictions relating to heritage rooms
Council Chamber Hackney Town Hall - Only water is to be brought into and consumed in this room please do not arrange any other refreshment when using this space.
Committee Rooms Hackney Town Hall & Abney Park Chapel - Ingredients such as turmeric & beetroot are not permitted and red wine is also not allowed due to staining .No food and drinks are allowed on the mezzanine level at Abney Park Chapel
-
Anti Theft
Wherever a cloakroom facility/coat rail exists in the venues we do not charge an additional fee for its use, however it is the responsibility of the hirer to ensure that this is manned throughout the event with a cloakroom attendant. Either we can provide this personnel at a cost or the hirer can procure this service themselves. Due to the risk of theft when leaving personal items unattended the cloakroom at Hackney Town Hall will not be available to use unless it is manned throughout, Rails can be used unmanned however need to be inside the event room in full view of the event attendees.
The provided bicycle racks should be used with a lock provided by the owner, bicycles are not permitted into our buildings.
Prams should either be folded and left in a manned cloakroom or be kept in full sight either next to the owner or in an allocated area.
Gifts and Cards should be in full sight of the hirer at all times, unless locked away. Do not allocate an area outside of the main event room for these to be placed - i.e foyers or corridors.
Event equipment and items should be taken away at the end of the hire and cannot be left in the building overnight for collection another day. Due to the level of use the venues get there are multiple groups of people coming in and out each site every day.
CCTV is in operation at our venues and any reports of theft should be made to the management team as soon as possible, with an approximate timeframe that falls within your event hire period to review. Due to GDPR regulations we are unable to share CCTV with you, only with the police, so once you have reported it to management you must also report it to the police who will contact us for footage.
Counter Terrorism
Bag searches and metal detection will be in place for all public and commercial events. They will take place intermittently and at random during private, invite only events.
Event activity can only take place inside your hired rooms and on the terrace at the glass house, designated outside areas are available for people to go outside intermittently throughout the event but no outside areas can be used for event activity - i.e service of food/drinks and entertainment.
SIA trained security are mandatory for all events that are open to the public and any that involve alcohol, have over 50 people or any part of the event is past 4pm.
Cars are not permitted in Hackney parks or directly in front of Hackney Town Hall. Only pre approved suppliers with equipment to deliver will be permitted upon receiving written permission from your event coordinator. We will require vehicle registration, company details and a car description in order to permit entry.
Illegal Drugs & Offensive Weapons
Bag searches and metal detection will be in place for all public and commercial events. They will take place intermittently and at random during private, invite only events. If illegal drugs are found upon entry searching admission to our venues will be denied, if they are discovered during an event the offender will be asked to leave immediately. If any persons resist leaving the premises and site the police will be informed. If illegal drugs are discovered to the amount which could be perceived as an intent to supply, the police will be called immediately. Anyone attempting entry to our venues with offensive weapons will be refused and the police will be called immediately. Offensive weapons include but are not limited to; knives on your person where you are not a contracted chef, guns, corrosive substances or any unidentified liquids & tools on your person where no works have been instructed. All incidents of non entry, removal, discovery of illegal drugs and offensive weapons are logged in the venue’s incident book and recorded on the council’s incident portal. All of our venues operate CCTV.
Capacity Management
All of our events are pre booked in advance and capacity is advised on all hire contracts. Private events should ensure their event is by invitation only and issue only the maximum capacity amount for the venue.
Security will use a door counter to ensure fire safe capacities are met and no more than the allowed number of people enter. All public events whether there is a door entry fee or not need to be managed with a sign up ticketing system which has a capacity limit such as eventbrite to ensure that capacity is not exceeded. If a high profile event takes place the local police will be notified as will the enforcement and emergency planning team in Hackney and we will also increase the amount of security on your hire quote to ensure that crowds can be managed if they attend. In the event of the possibility of crowds forming, barriers will be placed in front of the venues and gates to parks may be locked.
Dispersal & Outdoor areas
Each venue has its own dispersal and outdoor area policy. Dispersal is gradual over 30 minutes and it is to ensure there is no mass exit at the end of a licensable event causing crowds or loud disturbance to local people and wildlife. Lights will be turned on and music off 30 minutes before the end of your hire time, to allow guests to compose themselves for the journey home, finish drinks, go to the toilet, call taxis etc. Due to our policy on SIA trained security being mandatory at such events there are enough staff members to manage this process gradually. Our venues advertise local transport links and taxi numbers for guests convenience.
There are no outdoor areas available for event activity such as food and drinks service & entertainment except for the terrace outside of The Glass House until 9pm. Designated areas are available outside all of our venues for guests to step outside for air and smoke. After 9pm the number of guests will be limited in the designated areas to 10 and security will operate a ‘one in one out’ policy for these areas. All windows and doors to the venues need to be closed after 9pm to ensure no disturbance to local people and wildlife.
Music & Entertainment
Hackney Venues have a maximum db level of 93 in all of our venues and 85 in the North & South Atrium at Hackney Town Hall. The event coordinator will monitor this throughout your hire and breach of this may cause the limiter to trip the power sockets.
Alcohol
Our venues are fully licensed for the service and sale of alcohol. We do not permit a ‘bring your own’ option so that we are able to meet our licensing objectives, however if you have an agreement with your caterer to provide licensed bar staff to manage the set up, service and clearing away of alcohol you have brought yourself, that is permitted with written permission from your events coordinator.
Guests are not permitted to bring their own alcohol and security will make checks upon entry. Any alcohol found will be confiscated and returned upon exit of the venue.
Any events that will have under 18’s in attendance are not permitted to have alcohol service unless the minor is accompanied by their parent or carer - i.e at a family wedding.
Hackney Venues operate a ‘challenge 25’ policy and will brief bar staff to ask for identification at the point of service or sale to anyone who appears under 25. As the premises licence holder we reserve the right to refuse alcohol service to any persons appearing to be intoxicated, regardless of who the alcohol was provided by.
If at any point someone is behaving inappropriately they will be immediately removed from the venue and site by SIA trained security and no re entry will be permitted. If any persons resist leaving the premises and site the police will be informed. All incidents of non entry & removal are logged in the venue’s incident book and recorded on the council’s incident portal. All of our venues operate CCTV.
-
Upon hiring Abney Park Chapel for a ceremonial event that will last no longer than an hour, one dog is permitted to come inside the venue. Dogs are not permitted at events that serve food and drinks or last longer than 1 hour for Health & Safety reasons.
One dog per ceremonial event is permitted and no more, this is to prevent any clashes or upset between multiple animals.
The breed of dog must be legal to own in England and Wales.
Whilst we welcome a dog inside the venue we ask that you keep your dog under your control and prevent them from climbing on tables, chairs, or other furniture.
Dogs are not permitted on the mezzanine level at any time.
Please ensure your dog remains on a lead at all times inside Abney Park Chapel, the only exception to this is if there has been pre agreed involvement in ceremonial proceedings - i.e walking down the aisle with the couple.
All owners are responsible for their dog, and any mess created by the dog, at all times in and around Abney Park Chapel. If you are getting married or forming a Civil Partnership and your dog is attending, we will ask you to nominate a member of your wedding/civil partnership party to take responsibility for them. This person should not be a witness to the marriage or civil partnership and be seated on the main floor.
Please ensure that the dog owner or the nominated person has the correct cleaning materials to remove and clean any dog waste.
In a legal ceremony, it is incredibly important that everything the registrar and the couple say is clearly audible. The London Borough of Hackney staff reserve the right to ask the dog and the owner/nominated person responsible for the dog to leave the Chapel if the dog is excessively barking and or disrupting the ceremony.
Should there be any damage to the venue, we reserve the right to charge the cost of the repairs or replacement to the hirer of the Chapel and it is the hirer's responsibility to ensure that relevant liability insurance is in place to cover any accidental damage or injury caused by the dog.
The London Borough of Hackney staff reserve the right at any time to ask the dog and the dog owner/nominated responsible person to leave the premises if these terms and conditions are not met or at any time they are not comfortable with the dog’s behaviour/demeanour.
Registrars should be notified in advance of all civil ceremonies at the venue if there will be a dog present. Please ensure that you notify them at the booking and planning stages - ceremonies@hackney.gov.uk.