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Mayor of London kicks off hunt for the capital's borough of culture

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today (Friday 30 June) kicked off the first-ever London Borough of Culture hunt.

The new London Borough of Culture Award, much like its bigger sister the UK City of Culture Award, will see the city’s 32 borough bid for over £1m in funding to develop and host a programme of culture events and initiatives to foster culture in their chosen borough.

Also up for grabs will be a further £300k grant from the City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, along with further support and guidance from the City Corporation’s cultural assets and expertise.

Boroughs will now be able to develop their bids as they vye for the significant pot of local culture funding, with two winning boroughs set to be announced in February 2018, one to become the Borough of Culture for 2019 and the other for 2020.

Following the launch, Khan commented: “Culture is the DNA of our city. It has the power to transform communities and to bring people closer together.

“Now, more than ever, there is a pressing need to reach out to our neighbours and celebrate London’s unique and diverse culture. London Borough of Culture is a great way to do just that whilst showing the world that our cultural gems extend way beyond the centre of the capital to all corners of the city.

“From the outset of my Mayoralty, I pledged to make growing London’s culture a core priority and I’m proud to launch this ground-breaking new initiative, which I know will bring culture to life across the city. I can’t wait to see what inspiring ideas our boroughs have in store.”

Under the spotlight for each bid will be the ‘artistic vision’ and ambition to deliver ‘outstanding cultural intiatives’, with a particular focus on bids which promote new cultural opportunities in their given area.

Major cultural institutions in the capital, including the Barbican, the Museum of London and others, will also be on hand to work with the winning boroughs to help support the delivery of future cultural initiatives as well.

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