Creativity improving lives in London

I can’t start this message without acknowledging the devastating ￡56m cuts to London’s Arts Council England NPO funding, which were announced last week. Me and my team offer sympathy and support to all those who have lost out. Culture is London’s DNA, and the Mayor is clear that levelling down London will not help achieve levelling up in other areas of the country. In London, we’ll continue to work hard on innovative ways to grow resources for culture – with partners across the public and private sector.

If your organisation has been affected by Arts Council cuts, we encourage you to apply to the Mayor’s Culture and Community Spaces at Risk register. By registering you’ll receive up-to-date information on funding opportunities from funders across London, as well as invitations to workshops that include resources for organisations looking to grow and diversify their income streams.?

?This month, we’re encouraging creativity in young Londoners, along with:

• Shifting the dial on diversity in the creative workforce
• Supporting Londoners to realise creative ambitions
• Investing in creativity as a tool to improve mental health

Fantastic to see Abstract Benna announced as the first Poet Laureate for Lambeth. Abstract Benna represented Lambeth as a champion of the Mayor’s Cultural Impact Award-winning ELEVATE programme, has been storytelling through verse from a young age and is a great representative and role model to engage young Londoners and future creative talent. As Lambeth Laureate for 2023, Abstract Benna will write, perform and create as well as building creative networks and shaping what will be an annual role for Laureates to come. Hats off to Lambeth Council – it’s great to see investment in artists from our fantastic local authorities in challenging times.

Encouraging creativity in young Londoners and diversity in our workforce

Many young Londoners feel excluded from creative industry jobs – one reason (and there are many) is that it’s really tough to understand what jobs exist or what skills are needed to do them. The creative industries struggle with inclusion – and still urgently lack representation of London’s brilliantly diverse population and talent.

Coming soon, we’ll be launching Unpacking the Credits, a programme to shine a spotlight on a range of truly inspiring jobs in the creative industries for young people aged 11-15. Our programme will include six industry-led films from awesome creative companies (I can’t wait for the team to reveal who…), educational packs, resources for schools and parents - and much more. Sign up to find out more. We want young people to think ‘I could do that’ – and their parents!

?Supporting Londoners to realise creative ambitions

• We’ve been working with emerging creative talent from across our Creative Enterprise Zones, providing retail training to help develop careers. The London Made Me Pop-Up is our first ever store (exciting things I never thought I’d say!) and is launching TOMORROW on Regents Street! It features unique and sustainable gifts handmade by makers and artists from across the Mayor of London’s nine Creative Enterprise Zones – just in time for the festive season right? Learn more about the creatives and their products by following the shop on Instagram and on our Twitter. I was there this morning and it is not to be missed!
• East Bank is a new development of culture, education and innovation in Stratford. With significant funding from the Mayor, our partners UCL, Sadler’s Wells, BBC, the V&A, UAL’s London College of Fashion and Here East are busy building relationships and delivering thriving arts, fashion and community projects. They have just announced a funded residency programme for two creatives to investigate themes around social practice, activism and community engagement, with ￡5,000 funding and access to networks and support. If this could be you, find out more. Closes 21 November.
• Next week on 16 Nov, our very own Joseph Zeal-Henry will be presenting at the Thames Estuary Development Conference. This will be an opportunity to hear what makes the Thames Estuary “the UK’s biggest growth opportunity”. Book here!

?Creativity as a tool to improve mental health

There are over 2.8m children and young people living in London. The few years have been incredibly difficult for them and many have suffered from mental health issues.

In June, three groups of young people launched their manifesto and action plan at the Houses of Parliament: A Manifesto for 2.8 Million Minds. This was the culmination of months of work supported by the Mayor in partnership with the Baring Foundation and Thrive LDN. Working with the vacuum cleaner, Chisenhale Gallery and Bernie Grant Arts Centre, we commissioned artists Becky Warnock, Simon Tomlinson, Tyreis Holder, and Yomi Sodeto to work with young people to consider how culture could support their mental health and help design better mental health services. The manifesto was the output of this project, placing children and young people at the heart of the conversation – and firing a starting gun for partners including ourselves about how we can better support young Londoners.

Breaking news: A Manifesto for 2.8 Million Minds has been nominated for a collective power award from the Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance. From the launch at the Houses of Parliament, the Manifesto is changing the way we approach young people’s mental health for the better and I’m proud for the teams involved that it’s being recognised. Watch out for the results on 25 November – and you can join the Awards Ceremony for free here.

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating all this brilliant work - and join us in continuing to champion the power of culture to improve our lives in London.

Shonagh