Mayor of London supports at risk community venues

Funding and business support has been announced to help 61 grassroots community groups struggling due to the impact of the pandemic, as the Mayor of London extends help for the most at risk venues.

The Mayor’s Community Spaces at Risk Fund was established to protect grassroots cultural centres, social clubs, youth, education and other spaces that have been supporting vulnerable groups throughout the pandemic.

These spaces have been under severe financial pressure during the pandemic, and the grants of up to £25,000 have helped to cover rent, business rates, refurbishments and other building-based issues.

The second phase of the fund has provided more than £360,000 to help 30 community organisations in the last five months, with a further 31 groups receiving advice and business support to help them through the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, taking the total amount distributed by the fund to nearly £600,000.

The fund aims to protect diverse-led grassroots groups, with 75% of the community organisations that the fund protects led by underrepresented groups, including BAME, LGBTQ+, D/deaf and disabled, and women-led groups.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘Community spaces provide much-needed support and assistance to Londoners, and have been lifelines to so many throughout the pandemic. These already-stretched organisations have experienced increased demand for their services over the past 18 months, alongside growing financial pressures that have left them struggling to survive. I’m pleased that we’ve been able to help more than 100 community organisations at this challenging time. I will continue to do all I can to support them as London rebuilds and recovers.’

Deputy mayor for culture and creative industries, Justine Simons OBE, added: ‘London is a world-leader in culture and the creative industries and our grassroots community and cultural venues are a huge part of that success. They nurture talent, provide opportunities for young people and bring communities together. That’s why the Mayor and I have worked so hard to protect them, and why I’m pleased that we are expanding our innovative support programme to help these diverse-led organisations not only survive, but thrive long into the future.’

In related news, new analysis from Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales found that, while emergency funding ensured that many charities could adapt to continue to support people during the pandemic, many now face an uncertain future.

Photo by Jamie Street