Barking and Dagenham has already benefited from the Mayor of London’s investment programmes, but more funding is up for offer.
Sadiq Khan had previously made money available for two cultural projects in the borough. The first of these saw £50,000 go towards the development of a bid to transform an area of the region into a Creative Enterprise Zone. This was followed by a £160,000 investment for the Borough of Culture bid.
But there are also the mayor’s micro-grant programmes to be taken advantage of. These offer small organisations, as well as individuals, who otherwise have no access to public funding, grants of between £1,000 and £5,000.
As part of the Mr Khan’s commitment to investing in local communities, arts programmes in Barking and Dagenham are being invited to apply for a share of what is a £1 million funding pot.
Justine Simons OBE, who is the deputy mayor for culture and creative industries, says of the funding programme: “[It] is the perfect project to demonstrate what the Mayor’s draft Culture Strategy is all about – using the power of culture to make a real difference in communities across the capital.
“Small grants can make big things happen and we want everyone to have great culture on their doorstep.”
In other funding news, the construction of the framework that will make up the new OnSide Youth Zone development was completed this week, four months after the project began.
The charity project has received funding from the borough council, the Queen’s Trust and the Jack Petchey foundation, and is costed at £6.5 million.
The council’s commissioning director for culture and recreation said of the framework’s completion: “We are thrilled to see the development coming along so quickly and this is another big milestone as we count down until the official opening in Spring 2019.”
