Created on
25 May 2021
In 2018, Lambeth council was awarded a Cultural Impact Award as part of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture programme. This award was used to launch ELEVATE in 2019, a project which has gone on to inspire and support a new generation of creative leaders.
ELEVATE's original objectives were to:
- Support Creativity - to discover, nurture and spotlight talent
- Build Career Pathways - to improve opportunities for young people to access and succeed in the creative and digital industries
- Change the way we work - to champion new and inclusive employer practices
- Make the right connections - to grow connectivity across the borough and strengthen Lambeth’s creative ecology
Some highlights from the first phase of ELEVATE:
- ELEVATE exceeded its engagement target of 2,000 by 229, engaging 2,229 people in total.
- 215 young creatives’ talents were showcased through 5 talent showcases.
- 63% of participants were aged 16-24, demonstrating benefit to young residents leaving education and entering the world of work.
- 60 Lambeth primary and 22 Lambeth secondary schools now have the chance to be better connected to Lambeth cultural organisations and employers through a new Local Cultural Education Partnership.
Following a strong start, ELEVATE has now embarked on a new three-year plan, resourced in large part by the council. Its vision is firmly established as working to ensure that every young person in Lambeth can benefit from a dynamic and creative sector.
ELEVATE - a poem by Abstract Benna
How can we Elevate, that question will never change
From the buskers who demand centre stage outside the station
To the tender age of a dreamer praying
‘get a real job’ parents will see the vision
From the black boys who spat bars an wrote their way into stardom
before it was written in the stars that they’d be in prison
to the young woman discouraged
cah she don’t see herself in a senior position
How can we Elevate, that question will never change
And it starts here
in Lambeth lays a whole untapped industry
in the streets, in the heart, in the art
in the palms in the reach of each creative
tryna wrestle with the glass ceiling we’re all seeking a rock, I see elevate as our rock
supporting creativity
Supporting the rebel in radical hearts and open minds
to reshape and co-design a potent kind of Lambeth
where we see tourists visit and locals proud to be
in cultural hub that dissolves all boundaries
Attitudes of gentrification and crime could change with
creative companies who nurture their natives
Lambeth wasn’t built in a day, although it’s a strong one
Elevate. The movement, needs all of our support
we have to be in it for the long run.
- Abstract Benna, Spoken Word Artist, Social Entrepreneur, Community Activist and Elevator
ELEVATE Neighbourhoods
As ELEVATE continues to connect Lambeth residents to its cultural infrastructure, the Elevators, the project’s youth advisors, have taken a lead on developing a brand new strand of engagement, ELEVATE Neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods focusses on teenagers and the cultural organisations embedded in their communities.
Find out more about ELEVATE Neighbourhoods.