Your cultural life in London

I rarely go to the theatre, as I have impaired hearing. Nothing more annoying than paying a lot of money for a play then being unable to hear what is being said. I go to the cinema a lot, as long as there is a subtitled version on offer. 

I rarely attend cultural events in my local area, as they are nearly always aimed at cultures other than mine. My hearing disability means I struggle with accents I am not familiar with. 

I live outside London and regularly visit London to volunteer. It’s rewarding and by participating in arts and culture I can stick to my commitments. My travel expenses often offset the cost of a ticket. Eg. matinee show and then completing face-to-face volunteering training. 

Quite apart from insufficient in-venue practical accessibility, one issue which impedes many disabled people from accessing culture is that many venues and ticketing agencies don't know / accept that they are obliged under the Equality Act 2010 to make effective reasonable adjustments for disabled attendees.  This might include allocating accessible seating, or allowing a disabled person to be accompanied by a personal companion who provides practical support and assistance.  E.g. I am signed up to a ticketing clearing house which fills unused seats for venues.  The company refuses to deal with any accessibility requests (it's actually written into their Terms & Conditions), although this is illegal.  As a result, I can't go to many of events they advertise, which is blatantly discriminatory.  I experienced similar issues with a similar clearing house I was previously signed up to.  The lawyer Chris Fry of Inspire Legal has done a lot of work on this issue.  Many disabled people live on very low incomes and so it's often not an option for them to pay full price for tickets instead.  Similarly not all cinemas accept the CEA Card, which allows eligible disabled people who qualify for the card to bring a companion with them to the cinema for free, so that they are able to attend.  This includes independent cinemas which promote themselves as accessible and inclusive to their community - just not the disabled people within it.

London has traditionally had an excellent range of cultural events and activities. However, as an avid (excessive?) consumer of culture, i've noticed a stultification of what's on offer. I think this is due to early career, yet to establish creatives being priced out of London. If we cannot find a way to support new and experimenting culture creators then London' cultural offer will continue to diminish. 

Maybe the Art Organisations could work with The Mayor to provide reduced price entry to exhibitions for targeted groups of Londoners. 

I think Londoners often take things for granted and don't bother to look for events outside their comfort zone.  Outer Londoners may be concerned about being able to travel home late in the evening.

Ulez low traffic zones and expensive taxis as a big factor in not being able to attend as many music events as I want. I  volunteer as road crew for bands which means I finish very late often after the last train. I don't feel safe as a woman travelling alone which means taxis home in a lot of cases. Ulez is also damages bands and crew as we have heavy gear to lug around : I don't go to a favourite east London venue as often as I would costs me about 80 quid a time for a taxi home 

To: krisw - there's no need to be rude! You know nothing about me or my circumstances. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. 

I was working on 6th June. I purchased fish 'n' chips as we'd been encouraged to do so. There were no signs of anything going on in my area. On Saturday 9th, I travelled to Southampton to reflect on my parents' involvement in the preparations for D-Day. I visited a 96-year old friend of the family and we talked about her experiences. 

We have an abundance of amazing arts and cultural experiences in London - this is absolutely to be celebrated. I am proud to be an artist living and working in such an amazing sector.

However, due to the cost of living in the city, many experiences are priced out of reach.

For example, 50 years ago the average salary was £3k and the average house price £9k, whereas today the average salary is £34k and the average house £300k. So just putting a roof over your head has become unobtainable or incredibly expensive and that's before you add on skyrocketing energy and food prices.  When the majority of earnings are spent on living costs, the amount of disposable income available for cultural experiences is significantly lowered.

Offering more free and low-cost cultural experiences is not necessarily the answer - as this perpetuates the insidious devaluing of the arts and cultural sectors, putting artists in a financially precarious situation where they cannot charge for their services and are forced to rely on external funding sources.  Artists now have to be entrepreneurs, business managers, fundraisers, accountants, social media marketers, social prescribing providers, teachers etc, creating further access issues.  

Artists will always make art, whatever their situation, but we cannot take these talents for granted. If we want there to be a thriving arts and cultural scene, we have to ensure it is accessible for both the makers and participants. We need to listen to audiences and involve artists as consultants in decision-making that impacts their sector.

Good public transport & the Freedom Pass means that we can spend our pension on Arts activities.  Very late finishing is a disincentive to Central London events.  A good Tourist info centre would be good for Londoners as well as those from outside the capital. Would like to see a lot more police or CPO at busy roads and crowded places. Pavements with seating outside cafes and restaurants made permanent would be a real inventive.  If Bouriughs combined to provide say, a three bough pass for all Arts and cultural events that would be an incentive for residents to engage.  

I go to the theatre etc regularly both in my nearest town (Bromley) and in London. I used to go to Dartford but the ULEZ stopped that. 

The variety of events in London is a major reason for me living where I do. 

Being a pensioner I am lucky enough to enjoy the benefits of a Freedom Pass which allows me free transport access to anywhere in London. Without this I would probably be a little more selective about what events I felt able to attend.  However it is often the high prices of tickets to cultural venues that prevent many people visiting Theatres and entry to special art exhibitions etc.  The knock-on effect of these high prices adds to the somewhat 'elitist' reputations of certain events/performances. More thought needs to be given to 'inclusivity'  at all levels to encourage more people to be able to benefit from a wider variety of cultural activities.

the issue is that the vast majority are aimed ath the immigrant population. the is nothing for the endemic English .  for example what is done for St Georges day, the most English cultural event?

• What, if anything, would encourage you to experience arts and culture more often in London?

We have never had fewer bars, pubs and clubs open in the city but the streets feel dangerous at night.  Several times at around 10pm I have walked through Shoreditch down to Liverpool Street and had groups of young blokes shouting out "look white guy, f***ing white guy".  This never happened in the past, maybe I am an easier target to threaten now that I am older.  

Female friends have been sexually assaulted around Finsbury Park.  At bus stops.  In shops.  Followed down the street at night.  All I can say was that there was a common profile of protagnist involved.  This is saddens me greatly as this did not seem as commonplace twenty years ago (though girls did have to watch out for unlicensed cab drivers back then).

Stronger policing would encourage me to experience arts and culture more often.

Also, a lot of the major historic cultural institutions treat the general public like their idiots, mindlessly attempting to spin out some trendy attitude du jour like its a religion and undermining their own heritage.  

• What arts and cultural experiences do you wish were more readily available in your area?

Live music in pubs.  Local night clubs.  Places open much later.

• How do you usually find out about cultural experiences? Where do you look for them?

Signs in windows, advertising, possibly social media.

• What has been your best experience with arts and culture in London, and why?

  Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall.  Terrific value for £10 and a great tradition.

      Art Night.  Wild fun across the city.

      The Queen's Jubilee Pageant.  Really excellent.  People from across the country.  
 

I find it very hard to believe that Londoners are less likely to engage with cultural activities.  Most of my family and friends do this.

Outer Londoners have less choice in arts and entertainment locally as Central Govt has cut funding to Local Govt in these areas in favour of social care to shore up budgets in last 15 years. To travel up to London takes a long time, not helped by only having two unreliable trains per hour (was four pre Covid) which are frequently cut. We are NOT on the tube, tram, nor Overground in our Borough, and have to take a bus to Morden (takes half an hour or more) to catch a tube. Then add on costs of entrance to places and refreshments. You also cannot use the Freedom Pass before 9.30am on the trains in Outer London. 

• I’ve lived in London my entire life and have never felt less safe walking around at night. Open drug dealing, very aggressive begging, gangs loitering and knife crime make me feel very unsafe. As such I try and avoid visiting London. I was disappointed Sadiq Khan prioritised school meals for children in richer families than mine when crime is out of control.
• I would feel safer if I could drive in to London. Having the congestion charge finishing at 6pm definitely helps but some boroughs eg Islington charge huge extortionate parking tariffs in the evenings… £10 per hour after dark is a tax on night life and puts me off. 
• All the venues in London close really early. Amy Lame has done nothing about this and our nightlife is in free fall. To have a good night out in London you want to visit more than one place
• Pleased to see libraries on the questionnaire. It’s a shame they don’t get more focus and support. The provision is very patchy. In Southwark the libraries are modern and clean with loads of good books and are well used. Bromley is also very good. Lewisham is awful with most of the libraries closed, including in the Town Centre where it is closed until at least 2026 with no temporary provision. I’d love to see more support from City Hall for our libraries.
• Expansion of the night tube will help

Suburban residence makes use of many venues in central London harder. So advertise strongly on or at suburban transport points. Emphasise free entry to so many wonderful museums and galleries - unlike expensive cities elsewhere, including Paris whence I have just returned after visiting several expensive art galleries (wonderful) with one grand-daughter 11. With whom I also often visit centres in London. 

EMPHASISE FREE ENTRY. Everywhere, schools, on all forms of transport. Advertise the events as "sexy", ie exciting and approachable. Have clear directions to the venues from public transport points - you have to be really keen to find the Barbican Arts Centre even from the two tube stations very close.