Cultural Recovery Plan 2021 to 2022

Cultural Recovery Initiatives 2021 to 2022

We recognise that the impacts of the pandemic are still being felt by the cultural sector. We are therefore committed to continued delivery of a range of initiatives during 2021 - 2022 that will support our borough’s ongoing cultural recovery.

Creative Economy

Under this first theme of our Creative Southwark Cultural Strategy we aim to ensure that Southwark continues to provide the right environment for the creative economy and to enable our residents to access opportunities for sustainable employment to support a strong, highly skilled local economy.

Our Cultural Recovery Plan initiatives for Southwark’s Creative Economy include:

• Refreshing the Creative Network Southwark: four paid freelance roles will be created to develop the network and improve collaboration and connectivity across the sector. These roles will focus on administration, advocacy, meeting programming / facilitation, and project development.
• Creating the Southwark Creatives Directory a digital register / shop window on the Southwark Creates web pages for local creative sector freelancers to advertise their skills and availability for work.
• Facilitating a creative careers presence at one of Southwark’s Careers Fairs in 2022 to promote employment routes and sector opportunities.
• Using our participation in the South London Stride programme to drive an inclusive creative and tech economy in the borough by nurturing innovation, empowering talent and encouraging enterprise.

  For example, we will:

  • widen participation in the creative business start-up programme SYNAPSE, with eligible residents being given access to a £1,000 grant to buy equipment, access a workspace or prototype a business concept.
  • widen free participation in the University of the Arts’ incubation programme for creative businesses, delivered from Greencoat Studios and Camberwell College of the Arts.
  • widen participation in the M&C Saatchi Saturday School, with mentoring and incubator workspaces available for Black women aged between 26-41.
  • support pre-apprenticeship programmes and work placements in the music, gaming, film, digital and architecture sectors.

    The portfolio of Stride projects will improve access to skills training and pathways to creative careers for local young people.

Creative Growth

Under this theme of the Cultural Strategy we aim to ensure that the cultural needs of existing and new communities are met, by retaining viable cultural organisations, and strategically developing cultural venues and creative workspaces.

Our Cultural Recovery Plan initiatives for Southwark’s Creative Growth include:

• Maintaining our commitment to establish a creative & cultural district in Camberwell & Peckham. This will include opening a digital hub in Peckham with University of the Arts London in summer 2022 and establishing a cultural and co-work space in Camberwell. 
• Delivering on our borough-wide night-time plan to support town centres and High Streets across Southwark.
• Ensuring that the council is ‘buying local’ whenever possible. The culture team will undertake to raise the profile throughout council departments of the cultural sector’s assets that are available for hire or paid services that can be provided, from space hire to training delivery.
• Commissioning a community-led consultation on how we can best support and celebrate Black Culture in Southwark. The consultation will be led by local individuals and organisations sharing paid tasks to research, organise conversations within the local community, and present findings for further consideration in three specific areas: Premises and Infrastructure; Skills, Organisational Development and Networking; and Visibility and Celebration Campaigns.

  This will give us an improved understanding of the needs and ambitions of existing Black-led cultural organisations, including their premises and building maintenance needs, and an opportunity to develop the way in which the council supports the Black cultural sector in the future.

Creative People

Under this final theme of the Cultural Strategy we aim to ensure that everyone has access to a high quality cultural offer regardless of their background, knowledge, skills, needs or experience.

Our Cultural Recovery Plan initiatives for Southwark’s Creative People therefore include:

• Awarding up to £150,000 in Culture Together Grants, a new funding programme designed to distribute funding more equitably across the cultural sector, seeking specifically to support organisations in achieving representation in line with the Southwark population in the key areas of audiences, workforce, governance, and artistic content.
• Awarding at least £30,000 in new grants to individual artists from Black, Asian and global majority backgrounds to research and develop new creative ideas, with mentoring and showcasing opportunities from commissioners, directors, curators and producers in the sector. Details of this funding scheme will be announced in the new year.
• Introducing a new range of discounts on event location hire fees to enable community organisers to bring people together more easily through creative celebrations. This includes the introduction of a ‘very small’ category of outdoor events, which offers a 75% discount on the standard hire fee for events with a maximum of 100 people in attendance.
• Awarding up to £95,000 in Cultural Celebrations Fund events grants for free outdoor events, including grassroots events that harness national civic moments such as the Queen’s Jubilee.
• Investing £30,000 in diversifying the public realm through public art projects that celebrate underrepresented individuals or communities.
• Southwark Pioneers Fund – Applications will be welcomed from new creative businesses that are seeking to grow and delivering social value.

Page last updated: 12 January 2024