The LBoC award offers the winning borough £1.35million of GLA funding specifically to run a year-long programme of cultural events. Our bid will be a co-created programme of imaginative and exciting activity informed by you - our residents, partners, community groups and cultural organisations. 

For over 500 years, people have been coming to Royal Greenwich for a variety of reasons, from employment in the armouries and Royal docks of Woolwich, to the thriving tourism industry of our borough today. 

If you live, work or study in the borough, we want to know what brought you or your family to Greenwich. Inspired by these stories, we’ll build a programme of arts and culture that will keep people coming to Greenwich for years to come. 

Councillor Adel Khaireh, Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities, said: “Culture has the power to break down barriers and bring communities together. The diversity of our people and places gives Greenwich a cultural identity like nowhere else in the capital, and our residents, partners and community groups know that better than anyone. 

“Our bid to become London Borough of Culture will have the people who’ve made Royal Greenwich their home at its heart. We’re asking, what’s your story? What's your family’s history within our borough? 

“Your heritage and experiences will help us build a bid that truly represents the people and places of Royal Greenwich and inspires people to visit long into the future.” 

Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “Becoming the London Borough of Culture would celebrate the collective identities of Royal Greenwich residents, boost our local arts and culture economy and provide an even richer cultural offering for future generations. 

“Its legacy would create jobs, infrastructure and learning and mentoring opportunities for years to come. 

“Culture opens our minds to new ideas, and we’re committed to listening to the ideas of our residents, partners and community and arts organisations, so that together we can build an exciting future for culture in our borough.” 

How to get involved  

Share your story 

If you or a family member have a story to tell, we want to hear it. 

You can share your story by emailing greenwich.stories@royalgreenwich.gov.uk You can also post your story to Greenwich Stories, Events and Culture team, Third floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, Woolwich, SE18 6HQ. Please include your name and contact details. 

Volunteer 

If our bid is successful, we’ll be looking for 1000 volunteers to help us gather more stories from a diverse range of local people. You’ll be helping us record the tales of residents across the borough, which will inspire an exciting programme of events and culture that will truly put Greenwich on the map! 

To register your interest to volunteer, contact boroughofculture@volunteersgreenwich.co.uk 

Reimagine 

Once our volunteers have collected your stories, we’ll invite school children from across the borough to get creative! Using the words gathered by our volunteers as their inspiration, the students will reimagine ways of re-telling them. 

If you’re a student, parent or carer or staff member, you can register your school’s interest by contacting schoolsculture@royalgreenwich.gov.uk 

Interpret 

In the final stage of building our programme, local artists and organisations will work with our school students to interpret and transform their idea into a range of artistic pieces and performances. 

Their work will come together to create a truly spectacular programme that will showcase the rich culture of Royal Greenwich to the world! 

We’ve been working with local arts and culture groups through summit events, to gain their feedback. 

If you’re a Greenwich based artistic organisation, and weren’t able to attend our summits, please contact artsgreenwich@royalgreenwich.gov.uk to register your interest in being involved. 

The deadline for registering your interest is Friday 10 November. 

The London Borough of Culture initiative is part of the Mayor of London’s plans to support the arts in the capital. 

As well as the title award, there are also three Cultural Impact Awards up for grabs. These will be in the region of £200,000 for individual projects that take place between 2025 and 2027. 

The deadline for bid submission is 12 noon on 30 November, and the successful boroughs are expected to be announced in March 2024. 

More details on how to get involved will be released if we are successful. To be the first to receive updates, sign up to the council’s email newsletter, at royalgreenwich.gov.uk/newsletter, follow us on social media or look out for your fortnightly copy of Greenwich Info coming through your door.