The Impact of London Borough of Culture 2025
A Year To Remember
2025 was our year as The Mayor's London Borough of Culture, a year where culture sparked joy, and made us feel happier, healthier and more connected to each other.
We brought people together to enjoy the rich mix of traditions, festivals, food, and arts that make our borough so special. Our London Borough of Culture year was about creating something we were all proud of and building connections to last well into the future.
The year saw massive public involvement, with over 700,000 people participating in London Borough of Culture programmes. The programme ensured comprehensive accessibility, hosting events and activities in every ward.
The initiative provided a major platform for creative talent, featuring work from over 3020 creative partners. A vital component of the programme's success was the strong network of support, with 1084 volunteers contributing their time and effort throughout the year.
We worked collaboratively with arts, culture, business, voluntary and community partners to build an unforgettable programme that brought out the best in Wandsworth, igniting culture and creativity across the borough.
Learning, Impact and Evaluation Report 2026
Welcome to Wandsworth 2025 was Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture, a year in which more than half a million people took part in cultural activity shaped by the communities of Wandsworth. This report highlights just a small fraction of the total activity that took place during the year. But the message is clear: Welcome to Wandsworth had an extraordinary impact on residents and the artistic and cultural life of the borough.
Our year in numbers
- 704,827 people took part in LBOC as participants, audiences and creatives
- 517,916 of these were live in-person audiences, and 134,210 joined us online
- We worked with 3,020 artists and creative partners
- Our programme featured 1,243 events and activities, taking place across every ward in the borough
- 48,593 young people got involved, both in and out of school
- We worked in 89 educational settings, including all state primary and secondary schools, as well as some 6th forms, pupil referral units, hospital schools, private schools and infant schools.
- 2,827 young people were supported into creative futures through our creative careers programmes
- 627 fixed-term and freelance employment opportunities were created, many in the borough
- 891 creatives took part in free professional development opportunities
- £326,804 awarded as LBOC grants to local creatives and organisations
- 1,084 volunteers supported the LBOC programme
- Over £51m in Social Value generated
WAF2025 Impact Report
We've worked with Live Projects since 2023 to create in-depth impact and learning reports, to tell the stories of what we’ve achieved together and what we’ve learned while delivering the festival each year. 2025 was our biggest Wandsworth Arts Fringe festival to date, as we celebrated our year as London Borough of Culture.
What did you think?
We surveyed hundreds of artists and thousands of audiences across our year as London Borough of Culture year, and the results are in...
- 93% of participants who took part in a creative workshop or cultural program said that it enhanced their sense of community in Wandsworth
- 97% of audiences said their access needs had been met
- 91% of people rated their experience of London Borough of Culture events and activities as either Good or Very Good.
- 90% of participants said taking part made them feel more connected to others
- 90% of participants and 86% of audiences said that their London Borough of Culture experience had a positive effect on their sense of wellbeing
The Social Value of London Borough of Culture 2025
As well as delivering cultural, community and wellbeing benefits, Welcome to Wandsworth made a significant contribution to the local economy.
Social value consultancy RealWorth’s independent Social Value Return on Investment (SROI) report calculated that between April 2025 and March 2026, the London Borough of Culture Programme created an estimated £51.1 million in total social value.
Talent of the Future
Igniting the creativity of young people has been a paramount focus of the Welcome to Wandsworth year.
- 26,946 children and young people got involved in London Borough of Culture through our schools programmes.
- 21,647 young people engaged with London Borough of Culture outside of school – through youth clubs, community centres through programmes such as the UPLIFT Festival and London Borough of Culture Playwriting Competition for young people aged 14–19, under-5s library programmes, microgrants for youth clubs, Young Reporters, Young Producers, Rock the Grand, Youth Jazz Celebration, work experience placements, creative industry mentoring or as audiences to events.
- In-depth programmes such as Story Catchers, School Media Clubs, Internships, Youth Dance, Theatre and Producer programmes nurtured the creative careers of 2,827 of Wandsworth’s brilliant young residents aged 13 – 25.
- The Young Producers scheme brought together emerging creatives to bring to life the UPLIFT Festival.
- London Borough of Culture internships, hosted by 9 Wandsworth arts and culture organisations, offered local 18-25 year-olds paid hands-on experience and training to help build a future in the creative industries.
Culturally Mindful Impact Report
Culturally Mindful was designed to diversify the cultural social prescribing offer, exploring how creative health can be made more culturally competent, representative, and accessible. A cohort of Global Majority artists was selected to design and deliver residencies across clinical and community settings, including hospitals, mental health services and grassroots organisations, and engaged Global Majority communities already identified locally in Wandsworth as more likely to face barriers to good health and wellbeing.
For the borough and organisations
- We piloted one of the UK largest creative health interventions with over 20 projects supporting people’s health and wellbeing
- Culturally Mindful, a new 6-month Creative Health paid residency and training programme, united Global Majority artists, dedicated healthcare providers, and vital grassroots organisations, to co-design revolutionary new approaches to health and wellbeing support.
- Grant funded projects for South Asian Heritage Month, Black History 365 and Wandsworth Heritage will continue after the London Borough of Culture year.
- Wandsworth Heritage Festival will return along with new project Winstanley Culture Trail (2027) and new Memory Boxes (2026 - 2027).
The Power of Creative Health Programming
Arts, culture and heritage can make a real difference to people's health and wellbeing.
2025 was Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture, and our vision was to use the power of culture to spark joy, connect communities and improve the health and wellbeing of our residents.
Meet three of our partners as they share their stories and reflect on the impact of this work.
A Year on The Alton
