Revd Tony Miles, Superintendent Minister of Methodist Central Hall Westminster & Revd Nigel Cowgill, Chair of the Connexional Trustees of Methodist Central Hall Westminster have made the following statement in response to questions about the Shell AGM on Tuesday, 24th May 2022.

‘Hundreds of Conference Centre events take place in our building through Central Hall Westminster each year from various organisations. We strive to apply Methodist Standing Orders, (rules) fairly and impartially to all bookings, both church, and commercial. This results in some events not being able to occur in the building. The Shell AGM booking wasn't one of these. Events take place in the building that are run by organisations whose views on many significant subjects are not those that some staff – whether commercial or church staff – would share. The Shell AGM is a longstanding event that has taken place at Central Hall Westminster, as a client of our Conference Centre. The booking was taken in 2019, before the divestment decision by the Methodist Church. AGMs give an opportunity for issues such as climate change to be discussed and for shareholders to hold companies to account.

Central Hall Westminster does consider these things very seriously and cares deeply about the environment, please see the following link; https://www.c-h-w.com/about/sustainability/ Moreover, the Methodist Church is fully divested from Shell and other oil and gas companies and is working towards becoming a net zero Church by 2030.

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ENDS

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