The strategy lays out an ‘A to Z’ of commitments to grow the creative industries and increase opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds to work in and experience arts and culture. These include:
- A borough-wide celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Festival of Britain and the iconic South Bank this year. As part of this, nearly 2,000 children from 31 Lambeth schools will work with renowned poet Lemn Sissay to ‘Imagine the Future’ – creating a unique anthology of visual poetry.
- New guidance to make it easier to install murals and other public art. The council will soon announce a call for an artist to create a unique mural tribute to legendary South London footballer Kevin Campbell, in Brixton, in partnership with the Kevin Campbell Foundation.
- Planning rules will be used to protect arts venues and encourage new spaces to be built as part of local developments, through the borough’s Local Plan, which will be updated later this year.
- Boosting Brixton’s creative scene through reaccreditation as a Creative Enterprise Zone by the Mayor of London. Since 2018, the designation has supported nearly 300 businesses with the creation of new affordable workspace, including Raw Material, 198 Contemporary Arts and Beehive Place.
A call for a new tenant of the Streatham Space Project has been launched, after Lambeth Council worked with the site’s developers, London Square, to offer a long-term peppercorn rent agreement. The much-loved local venue was a key part of the south-London arts scene for seven years until March 2025, when post-Covid financial challenges led to its closure.
Councillor Marcia Cameron, Cabinet Member for Economic Inclusion said:
“The Streatham Space Project offers something unique to this part of south London, which is why we’ve worked so hard to bring it back into use as space for theatre and the arts. I encourage local organisations to express an interest in this fantastic opportunity to take on a state-of-the-art venue.”
“We want to spread cultural opportunity to every corner of our borough, from the thriving internationally renowned venues on the South Bank to our local town centres.
The creative industries don’t just entertain; they employ tens of thousands of people and generate hundreds of millions for our local economy. But we want to do more to open them up to people from diverse backgrounds. Representation matters, whether that’s performing on stage or managing a production behind the scenes.
Our new strategy for the creative economy will support greater collaboration between the council, creative industries and residents, creating opportunities for people young and old.”
Developed with industry leaders, residents and partners, the new strategy brings together a practical A–Z of 26 commitments for the next five years, including plans to bring Streatham Space back into use.
It aims to make it easier for people to build creative careers locally, for businesses to grow, and for culture to be part of everyday life across the borough. The strategy is shaped around three core priorities for the creative sector:
- A more resilient and sustainable creative economy, with stronger networks, clearer support and better coordination across the sector
- Growth in jobs, businesses and reputation, alongside improved access to affordable and long-term creative workspace
- A more representative and inclusive creative economy, with more people able to take part, shape activity and build careers locally
Other exciting plans include a partnership with London South Bank University to offer local freelance creators and small businesses access to the university’s extended reality/augmented reality(XR/AR) suite. Thousands of hours of industry placements will be offered to Lambeth young people, through the ‘ELEVATE’ and ‘Next Us’ programmes, with a focus on those from under-represented communities. People who are disabled, women, people from Black, Asian and Multi-Ethnic and working-class backgrounds are all less likely to be employed in the creative industries.
Read the strategy here – Lambeth’s Creative Economy Strategy
