Peckham-based arts organisation receives £56,000 of backing from Big Issue Invest 

Today (Friday, 3^rd December) it has been announced that Bold Tendencies, a not-for-profit organisation based in Peckham, has secured £56,000 in funding.

Big Issue Invest (BII), the investment arm of The Big Issue, is supporting Bold Tendencies to continue its work of the past 14years supporting artists to develop their ideas and to realise site-specific projects and present live performances from its rooftop home at Peckham’s Multi-Storey Car Park. Since 2007, Bold Tendencies has welcomed more than two million people in 14 summer seasons. The organisation also undertakes several standalone education and community initiatives that take culture and civic values seriously.

Bold Tendencies celebrates the free enjoyment of public space in the city, participation in a rich, experimental programme and open access to its spectacular site. It commissions new visual art and architecture — 120 works to date — and produces an award-winning live programme of music, dance and opera. New architecture commissioned for the site includes Frank’s Cafe (2009) and the Straw Auditorium (2010) by Practice Architecture and the Peckham Observatory (2017) and Concert Wall (2016) by Cooke Fawcett. 

Bold Tendencies will use this funding to widen its programme audiences, in particular into Peckham and Southwark and to further develop the programmes it has pioneered. In addition it plans to use some of this funding for ‘The Remastering Project’ with Feilden Fowles Architects to double capacity of their large-scale lower floors. New acoustic and creative infrastructure will expand their ability to organise and produce live events that complement the thematic interests of the rooftop sculpture programme, providing access to great performance for everyone through innovative programmes, empowering learning experiences for children and young people, and affordable ticket prices.

Danyal Sattar, CEO of Big Issue Invest, said: “We are so pleased to be able to support an organisation such as Bold Tendencies. The work it does in its community is invaluable, not only does it train and support local artists, it ensures everyone has access to an exciting and inspiring creative space.

“Their entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to the arts is commendable, and we were really impressed by the work they do to engage all sorts of people in the community beyond the traditional art world. We hope we can support the organisation to go from strength to strength.”

Hannah Barry, Founder of Bold Tendencies, said: “We are grateful for the support of Big Issue Invest. This funding ensures we can do more and do better in our unique space and with our brilliant community.”  

“I started Bold Tendencies at the age of 23 and I am proud of what it has become.  It is one thing to believe what you see; it is another to believe what you believe. We hope that the example Bold Tendencies sets might encourage others to make their own ideas happen. We want to be part of a wider system of opportunity: ensuring that innovation and excellence can thrive, especially in these challenging times.  This funding will help us further that aim.” 

To find out more about Big Issue Invest, or how your organisation could receive similar support as Bold Tendencies, please visit: https://www.bigissue.com/invest/

To find out more about Bold Tendencies, visit: https://boldtendencies.com/about/