The Village: Manager of Halifax's first official gay bar bids fond farewell after five years in charge

Now Torban Aspinall is bidding a fond farewell to The Village, on Princess Street in Halifax town centre, and handing it over to a new owner and manager.

Under his leadership, the bar has provided a warm, welcoming, inclusive and non-judgmental safe space in the town.

He said some customers have even said knowing they were now alone has prevented them from causing serious harm to themselves.

Torban was reluctant to take on The Village at first, he admitted, but remembering how much he had wished there had been an inclusive-for-all bar in Halifax when he was younger led him to agree to help get it going.

"With this being the first ever ‘official’ gay bar in Halifax, it had to be handled the right way,” he said. “With my experience in being from Halifax myself and working in both the straight and gay nightclub industries - whilst working creatively in Leeds, Manchester and London - I agreed to do it on the proviso that I would leave after a few months - and here we are five years later!

"It has been my absolute honour being the guardian of The Village and I would sincerely like to thank every single member of staff that has worked at the Village over this monumental last five years.

"I would also like to thank all the LGBTQ+ friendly venues in Halifax which have gone before us making it possible for us to open up the first ever ‘loud & proud’ official LGBTQ+ bar.

"We have been through our ups and downs including a pandemic and as with any job there have been times where I wanted to hand over the responsibility.

"However each time that has been the case a customer from a different background - gay, straight, bi and trans - has personally thanked us for creating such a warm, welcoming, inclusive, non-judgmental, safe space in the area, as it has truly helped them and who they are.

"I would like to thank every single person who has come down those stairs at The Village to support us from near and far since we first opened our doors. It has been a pleasure meeting every single one of you.

"We would also like to thank other local businesses, Calderdale Council, the West Yorkshire Police, local organisations, the Calderdale Pride team and our neighbours for all their support and encouragement which you have very kindly given, aiding us to create such a safe and much-loved space in Halifax.

“I hope and pray that the seed we planted five years ago can continue to encourage growth, both individually and together.

"And may what we started here encourage other venues to be all inclusive environments and safe spaces.

"Love and support one another, forgive one another, embrace each others uniqueness and differences, don't discourage but encourage one another.

"We only need the one label and that is the one that we are all the human race!”