Lewisham’s Anchor Cultural Organisation: Looking back on the last three years

There are plenty of anchors around Deptford. From the iconic anchor at the end of the high street, to the Lucky Anchor pub, all pointing to the area’s maritime history.  

In 2022, following our success as Lead Delivery Partner for London Borough of Culture 2022, we were appointed as Lewisham’s Anchor Cultural organisation for the borough. Our role as anchor is to act as a hub for artists and cultural organisations in Lewisham, providing support and amplifying the incredible creativity and talent developing on our doorstep every day.  

We are already home to more than 20 brilliant creative and community organisations, nine of whom are Arts Council National Portfolio organisations, and we’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done over the past three years to support emerging artists and organisations across the borough, from Deptford to Downham.  

In 2022, we pledged to support 200 artists per year by programming their work, offering them space, and supporting them to develop and reflect on their creative practice. In reality, we have worked with more than 1,500 talented artists, and commissioned 33 new productions to be performed right here in Deptford. We’ve also supported a further 5,500 community-led events happening in our venues, and are nurturing the next generation of creatives by offering more than 4,000 hours of paid work to young people. 

Through our Creative Communities Membership programme, we offer subsidised work, rehearsal and movement space, as well as advice and support, and the opportunity to build networks with other creatives across the borough. In the past three years, we have offered more than 500 hours of free advice and support to local artists, community groups and creative companies. On top of this we’ve also given away more than 150 hours of space for free. 

Another key element of our anchor role is fundraising. The funding landscape is becoming harder and harder for artists and creative organisations, and our goal is to share our expertise, try to demystify the process, and to facilitate connections between fundraisers in the borough, so we can all help each other. Since 2022, we’ve offered more than 130 hours of free fundraising advice through 1:1 sessions and seminars, and we’ve also worked with LEAN (one of our aforementioned brilliant residents) to deliver events connecting fundraisers with funders including Arts Council England and Youth Music. 

We’ve loved our role as anchor organisation so far, and have made some invaluable connections with creatives, community organisations and fundraisers. If you’re interested in what we offer, check out our Creative Communities Membership or get in touch to see how we could work together.