The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today awarded £533,000 to support a series of community projects designed to improve diversity in the capital’s public spaces.
New murals, plaques and walking tours are among 42 community projects across 19 boroughs receiving funding as part of the work of the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.
The projects include plans to install rainbow plaques celebrating LGBTQ+ history across London, walking tours and artworks in Islington telling the stories of the capital’s Jewish communities, and the creation of three new murals to celebrate influential Black women from Lewisham chosen by local residents.
In addition, grants will fund a new heritage tour to celebrate trailblazing women in Hackney, the installation of heritage information boards in Chinatown and a collection of stories and oral histories from market traders and local people in Walthamstow market.
The funding is part of the £1m Untold Stories programme to champion diversity in the capital’s public spaces and ensure London’s landmarks and monuments reflect the achievements of all who have contributed to the success of our city. The grants offer Londoners the opportunity to develop ideas and share their stories which will be represented within the public realm.
Organisations can apply for grants of up to £5,000 to develop a concept or idea, or up to £25,000 if the project is further developed. A second round of funding will open for application on June 13.
Sadiq established the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm to improve the representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, women, LGBTQ+ communities and Deaf and disabled people and those from a range of socio-economic backgrounds in the public realm. The Commission’s role is to enrich the capital’s public spaces and advise on better ways to increase public understanding of the human stories behind existing statues, building names and memorials.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m proud that, through the Untold Stories grants programme, we will herald the transformation of our public realm into one that better reflects our city’s rich and complex history. By sharing London’s Untold Stories, we can ensure that more of the people and communities who have contributed to our city’s success are duly recognised and remembered, I want everyone to be able to take pride in our public realm and we can only do this if it represents a more complete picture of the people who have helped make London the incredible city it is today.”
List of grant awards, grants of up to £5k (plus up to £1k for additional access costs) to develop a concept or idea:
| Name | Amount | Main Borough |
| 492 Korna Klub Brixton Sound Systems Mural | £5,000 | Lambeth |
| Avant-Gardening Hidden Histories | £5,000 | Lewisham |
| The Association of Sikh Art & Cultural Heritage (ASACH) Sikh Heritage Walking Tour of Southall
| £5,500 | Ealing |
| Barnet Multi Faith Forum (BMFF) – an interfaith exhibition Broadening the Righteous Muslims | £5,000 | Barnet |
| Brownbaby Inside Outside | £5,400 | Kensington & Chelsea |
| Clapham Film Unit “Where are the Women?” | £4,500 | Lambeth |
| club kali network (cic) Pink Hub: Living Anthology | £4,000 | London-wide |
| Carnaval del Pueblo Asociación Viva Carnaval! – Exploring how to host Latin culture in a mobile space.
| £6,000 | Southwark |
| End Violence and Racism Against East and Southeast Communities with B.E.S.E.A.N East and South East Asian Histories Uncovered
| £4,000 | London-wide |
| FIlipino Nurses Association UK Untold Stories of Filipino Nurses in London | £4,000 | London-wide |
| Five ASide Theatre CIC Dorothee in the 18th Century: Remains to be Told | £4,000 | Sutton |
| Invisible Palace Empire and trade – the lost sculptures of Crystal Palace Park | £4,993 | Bromley |
| Kayd Somali Arts & Culture The Journey of us: Belong in our society! | £4,950 | Tower Hamlets |
| Made in Merton Workers of the Wandle
| £2,250 | Merton |
| The NO Collective You’re Welcome In Romford | £4,950 | Havering |
| Parents Action & Resource Centre CIC Sankofa – recovering London’s African heritage
| £800 | Ealing |
| Positive Network Community Project The Black contribution to Merton Heritage | £5,560 | Merton |
| Project Phakama UK New Histories – A pilot project for young people to offer alternative narratives to their local area. | £6,000 | Tower Hamlets |
| Portobello Radio CIC Sounds of Latimer
| £5,000 | Kensington & Chelsea |
| V22 Communities – Manor House Library Reclaiming contested histories: Sir Frances Baring at Manor House Library, Lee | £5,000 | Lewisham |
| Vanbrugh Park Estate Residents Association The lost story of Emily Wilding Davison’s Blackheath | £5,000 | Greenwich |
| Vietnamese Family Partnership / Gia Đình Việt New visual landmark celebrating the Vietnamese diaspora | £6,000 | London-wide |
Grow and Make Happen
Grants of up to £25k (plus up to £2k access costs) for developed or tried and tested projects.
| Organisation and project | Amount | Main Borough |
| Artillery CIC Walthamstow Griffin, Protector and Guardian of Untold Local Stories and High Street Treasures | £26,303 | Waltham Forest |
| Chabad Lubavitch of Islington CIO Islington Jewish Heritage Trail | £24,948 | Islington |
| China Exchange UK The Digital Chinatown Heritage Summary For Enjoying On The Move | £13,600 | Westminster |
| Camberwell Arts Limited Camberwell Voices | £24,000 | Southwark |
| Filmanthropy CIC S’Nuff: A Youth-Led Exhibition | £21,403 | Merton |
| London LGBT Forums Network Rainbow Plaques | £25,000 | London-wide |
| NorthWestTWO Residents Association Cricklewood Walk of Fame | £5,900 | Barnet |
| Pepys Community Forum The Deptford Community Monument Project | £25,000 | Lewisham |
| Providence House Trust Providence House – Recording & Celebrating 60 Years of Stories of Cultural Diversity on the Winstanley & York Road Estates | £25,000 | Wandsworth |
| Queer Tours of London Recruitment and training of six new tour guides | £16,875 | London-wide |
| Society for the Advancement of Black Arts BBMC Mural & Plaques of Local HiCrEc Contributors | £24,900 | Brent |
| The Tommy Flowers Foundation Unearthing Poplar: celebrating hidden histories | £27,000 | Tower Hamlets |
| Xenia Trailblazing Women in Hackney: Heroines of our Time | £24,937 | Hackney |
| Young Historians Project: Creating two murals to celebrate African women in British health care | £23,148 | Westminster |