ADD2518 London Festival of Ideas

1.1. As London’s communities emerge from the pandemic and turn towards creating a better future, the Building Strong Communities mission of the London Recovery Programme is hosting a “London Festival of Ideas” to explore our individual and collective visions and plans for that future and how all Londoners can be enabled to play an active role in their communities - making London a more equal and inclusive city post COVID-19.

1.2. The Festival will take place between June 28 and July 23 2021 and will be made up of activities, events and conversations hosted by the GLA, partners and community organisations.

1.3. The Festival wants to hear from all Londoners. Recognising that for some there will be barriers to participating in and hosting an event as part of the festival, approval of £10,000 is sought as part of the access-grant programme which will look to support organisations with grants of up to £500 to plan and facilitate activities as part of the programme. Small organisations and informal community groups, with an annual turnover of under £75,000 will be eligible for the access grants. Grants will be allocated to ensure diverse representation in the community-led activity taking place, including geographically and by communities of interest. This will be targeted at supporting organisations who are led by and for groups who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This includes working in partnership with Festival partners London Plus to support grant disbursement and easier access.

1.4. Further approval of £10,000 is sought to cover Festival related costs including event planning, commissioning of design and creative outputs, evaluation, marketing and production of Festival outputs. This will cover the fee of the artists/designers, who will produce the branding and media assets of the Festival and produce the creative outputs once insights from the Festival have been generated. In order to promote the Festival, marketing support will be required and will be included in this budget. The GLA will host the launch and closing events as part of the Festival and the budget for speakers and participation activity, event organisation, production of a Festival summary will be covered in this sum.

1.5. £10,000 additional budget for the Festival delivery has already been approved via a DAR, £5,000 for Festival related costs and £5,000 for the access grants. £5,000 of this expenditure will be transferred by Team London.

2.1. The objectives and expected outcomes of the Festival are to:

• identify activities that are taking place across the city that contribute to the Building Strong Communities mission;

• generate a shared understanding of a community hub;

• create spaces for partnership, collaboration and increasing connections; and

• ensure groups disproportionately impacted by the crisis are able to take part in the festival through hosting their own activities and event.

3.1. This project will focus on creating a platform for all Londoners to shape the Building Strong Communities mission. It will focus on understanding the ambitions and interests of diverse communities, with a focus on groups disproportionally impacted by COVID-19 and the structural drivers of this disproportionate impact. We have designed the festival in partnership with organisations who are led by and for these communities, to ensure we remove barriers to participation. Part of this budget will be used to fund access grants, supporting small organisations and informal community groups, with an annual turnover of under £75,000 will be eligible for the access grants. Grants will be allocated to ensure diverse representation in the community-led activity taking place, including geographically and by communities of interest.

3.2. These considerations will ensure that the programme meets the GLA’s Equality Duty by ensuring groups who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the structural drivers of this impact, who want to participate in the Festival have a fair opportunity at taking part. In particular, the budget allocated to the access grants is aiming to remove barriers to participation for groups who are often less heard.

4.1. This directly relates to the work of the London Recovery Board and the mission Building Strong Communities. The insights generated by this programme of work will underpin the next stages of the Building Strong Communities mission and the programmes that sit with it.

Key risks and issues

4.2. There are no conflicts of interest for anyone involved in the drafting or clearance of this ADD.

5.1. Approval is sought for expenditure of £20,000 towards the Festival of Ideas. £10,000 is for costs relating to event planning, design and creative outputs from the Festival. A further £10,000 is for the Festival’s access grant programme.

5.2. The expenditure will be funded from the 2021/22 Civil Society Programme budget, held within the Communities and Social Policy Unit.

5.3. This programme sits within the ‘Building Strong Communities Mission’.

5.4. There is also a previous DAR approval of £10,000 (£5,000 of which is funded by the Team London Unit). This approval takes the total expenditure to £30,000 for the Festival of Ideas.