Your Community
Southwark is a very special place
Together with the City of London, Southwark is the oldest area of London stretching back to Roman times. Rich in both history and literature, Southwark is also modern and fast paced. It is arguably one of the most diverse, tolerant and successful areas in the Capital. The people who live here play a huge role in making London one of the most exciting and cosmopolitan places in the world.
Southwark is made up of eight very distinctive urban neighbourhoods that extend along the river Thames and down into South East London. They encompass some of London's top attractions, creative hotspots, scenic villages and acclaimed green spaces.
Southwark's neighbourhoods
Visit our neighbourhood sections to find out more about the people, the place and what makes them special. You'll find population profiles, local history and information on all the latest initiatives and activities affecting the local community.
Find out where the 8 neighbourhoods are on our map of community council areas (pdf 39 KB). To view this, you will need Adobe Reader.
Making plans for your community
 Despite being a place of opportunity, Southwark has its fair share of challenges including poverty, high state dependency and complex social problems common to many urban areas.
We are now undergoing one of the most ambitious physical regeneration programmes of any authority in the country, together with a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving educational standards, reducing crime and improving health, housing and the environment. Our aim is for everyone, particularly children and young people growing up in Southwark, to thrive.
Find out more about how we are working towards this in Southwark 2016, our Sustainable Community Strategy.
Area management is one of the tools we are using to identify local issues and bring about positive change. It means engaging with local communities and with all the different service providers in one area or neighbourhood so that they share information and work together more effectively.
We are implementing a process of looking at the challenges, priorities and issues of each of our eight neighbourhoods. Local plans which focus on 3 or 4 of the most critical issues in each area are being drawn up. This is part of the Council’s ‘place shaping’ agenda, which acknowledges that local people know their communities best and they should be at the forefront of how they develop. Watch this space!
Community Councils at the heart of local democracy
Since 2003, we have had local Community Councils which involve councillors, residents and businesses in local decision making - and increasingly many of our services are following this place-based approach. We invite all Southwark residents to take part in this opportunity to shape their neighbourhoods and their communities.
Community Council meetings
Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) Programme
Our cleaner, greener safer programme has changed the quality of people's lives from creating picnic and recreational areas to making walkways safer and renovating buildings.
Visit our Cleaner, Greener, Safer pages and get the latest information about each Community Council's environmental improvement scheme and how you can put forward ideas.
Community Fund
Find out more about getting support for community projects from the your Community Council on the community fund page.
Contact us
Sharon Beckwith
Tel: 020 7525 1031
sharon.beckwith@southwark.gov.uk
9 Blenheim Grove
London
SE15 4QS |