London Borough of Culture Impact Award for Lewisham
Future Cities Forum has been hearing about the London Cultural Impact Award that the borough has received from the Mayor of London and how it will be put to use.
James Lee, Head of Service , Culture and Community Development, at Lewisham Council has been describing how important this award of over £200,000 will be for older residents in the borough and how it will fund a ground-breaking Festival of Creative Ageing project.
The festival will involve films, exhibitions, events at the Broadway Theatre and Beckenham Place Mansion curated by residents, a two day international conference about creative ageing and pop-up choirs.
It will reach hundreds of older residents and will target deprived wards where life expectancy is lowest. The events will involve artists from the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and Japan.
The centrepiece to the festival will be Christopher Green’s spectacular 48-hour immersive theatre production, The Home, which will be made with older residents at The Home from Beckenham Place Mansion.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commented: ‘Culture has the power to transform lives and I’m delighted that Lewisham has been awarded funding to celebrate the role culture can play in supporting older people – helping them to live longer, happier and more independent lives’.
Watch our interview above with James Lee where he describes a further award for the borough and some of the historic buildings that will feature in the festival.