Culture Together Grants Fund

Culture Together Grants Fund 2024/25

Entering its third year, this fund supports Southwark’s arts and culture organisations to deliver projects that help to build a sustainable and inclusive cultural sector.

Applicants can apply for ‘Small Grants’ (£5,000 to £10,000) and ‘Big Grants’ (£10,001 to £25,000).

Further information, an application guide, and FAQs will be published here when the fund opens at 9am, Monday 11 December 2023.

Applications will close at 10am, Wednesday 24 January 2024. We will communicate our decisions to all applicants by April 2024.

Projects we supported in 2023/24

Southwark’s arts and culture organisations were invited to propose activities that would achieve better representation or celebrate equality. Each organisation choose one of four areas to focus on: Audiences, workforce, governance, artistic content.

10 organisations were awarded a total of £144,268 funding for 2023/24. This was divided into small grants (£5,000 to £10,000) and big grants (£10,001 to £25,000). The fund opened on 11 January 2023, and closed on 7 February 2023. The applicants were informed of the panel's decisions in April 2023.

Successful applicants and their projects

Art In The Park
Blue Elephant Theatre
British Youth Music Theatre
Drawing Room / Tannery Arts
Maya Productions
Peckham Platform
South London Gallery
Staffordshire Street
Theatre Peckham
Unicorn Theatre

Art In The Park

A series of all-age summer workshops exploring the concept of The Tree of Life. This will finish with in an exhibition, co-curated with people who took part. Activities will include:

movement life drawing with dancers and musicians
large scale collaborative drawing activities
weaving and drawing with natural materials
using Burgess park as a resource and inspiration

Find out more about Art in the Park

Blue Elephant Theatre

Two family shows for ages 5-11 years informed by Blue Elephant’s youth board. Performances will:

be delivered for children and families, schools, nurseries and clubs
include school matinees and relaxed performances for vulnerable groups
reach children who are traditionally less likely to access the arts

The project will also restart the theatre’s young reviewers programme. This gives children a VIP experience and a chance to critique the work.

Find out more about Blue Elephant Theatre

British Youth Music Theatre

A collaboration between British Youth Music Theatre and Candoco Dance Company. They will create a new piece of music theatre with a group of disabled and non-disabled young people. This will involve:

community engagement days at Mountview
taster days in Southwark schools
a devising project and open dress rehearsal at Theatre Peckham

Find out more about British Youth Music Theatre

Drawing Room / Tannery Arts

The recruitment of two Neighbourhood Coordinator posts for local young people who:

have lived experience of being from a minority group
are aged between 18 and 30
will build and develop relations with diverse communities in West Bermondsey

These posts will support Drawing Room as it reopens in its new, permanent home in West Bermondsey ward.

Find out more about Drawing Room / Tannery Arts

Maya Productions

The development of ‘Inclusion Boost’, an online careers toolkit. This will support six Southwark theatre professionals from Black, Asian, Latin American and global majority backgrounds. They will be role models for inclusion.

The project will help to inspire young people from underrepresented communities to see performing arts careers as an option. It will partner with Charter Schools around the borough.

Find out more about Maya Productions

Peckham Platform

A series of community co-created artworks. The shutters of closed shops on Rye Lane will become new sites for artistic expression, imagination, and future thinking. Peckham Platform will be working largely with young people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. Partners will include Southwark’s Youth Justice Service, South London Refugee Association, and Southwark Day Centre for Refugee and Asylum Seekers. The project will:

celebrate Peckham’s vibrant locality
revitalise public/commercial spaces
amplify the creative voices of young people

Find out more about Peckham Platform

South London Gallery

Support for the gallery’s Schools Programme to use the ‘Making Sense’ framework. Themes of inclusion and anti-racism will be explored through:

schools collectives
teacher training workshops
a digital resources platform

The project will build on long-term partnerships with local schools. It will engage young people from majority Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds through:

gallery visits
artist-led workshops
creative careers workshops

Find out more about South London Gallery

Staffordshire Street

A learning programme to encourage debate and new thinking on sustainable communities and alternative futures. Targeting hyper-local audiences to Staffordshire Street’s new project space in Peckham. It will take place in correspondence with nine exhibitions from June 2023 to March 2024. Activities will include:

creative skills workshops (for ages 16-24)
celebratory community days
intergenerational meetings
performance events featuring global majority and working-class artists
a 10 day festival
a solo show from a local artist

Find out more about Staffordshire Street

Theatre Peckham

A workforce support programme called ‘Leading The Change’. This will build a positive working culture and empower individuals within the theatre’s organisational structure. The programme will include:

participation in the Old Vic’s Guardians’ programme
career training for 17-25 year-olds through Young Peckham
the use of Upshot, a data collection monitoring and evaluation tool

Find out more about Theatre Peckham

Unicorn Theatre

The delivery of two ‘Creative Associates’ projects with a Southwark primary school: An opportunity for children to influence the theatre’s artistic programme. A community project focused on Early Years (for ages 0-5) exploring the intersection between creativity and child development. This will be in collaboration with health and wellbeing partners.

Find out more about Unicorn Theatre

Part 2Frequently Asked Questions

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Culture Together Grants Fund