London Borough of Culture application
Newham Council
CAO worked with Newham Borough Council to support its bid to be London Borough of Culture in 2025. Newham is one of the most deprived boroughs in London, with some of the lowest levels of educational attainment and cultural engagement.
We worked closely with council officers, neighbourhood teams and grass roots arts and community organisations and leaders to ensure this work is aligned to Newham’s Corporate Plan, Building a Fairer Newham so that social impact, equality and inclusion are at the heart of the bid.
We undertook an extensive consultation, creating pop up workshops in local markets with artists facilitating creative sessions, working with youth clubs, universities, and arts organisations in the Borough to map both activity and appetite.
Although the bid was unsuccessful, the process of working with local, national and international artists, local stakeholders and community groups has spurred the Council onto take forward many of the intended activities we helped them develop – including the branding for Newham Culture as ‘the beating heat of London’.