the Albany

Thank you to all 46 #BigGive #ChristmasChallenge donors who helped us surpass our goal! You are enabling us to continue our work with the young people of South London through Come As You Are. We appreciate you! We'd also like to give special thank yous to Mulalley and Charcoalblue for continued support of our youth programme. Check out @_cayase8 on instagram to see what we get up to 💫

We're in the final 24 hours of our #BigGive #ChristmasChallenge, fundraising for Come As You Are, our weekly youth-takeover. You may be wondering why we decided to set up Come As You Are at the Albany in the first place; it actually all came from a piece of youth-led research, People, Places & Poetry, which found that 61% of the 200 young people surveyed spent most of their time, when they weren't at school or at home, at bus stops and estates. And 83% believe there aren’t enough spaces they can access easily and safely. We wanted to try to change that, and you can help us. If you donate via #BigGive before midday Tue 20 Dec, your contribution will be doubled. Please consider donating at this link: https://lnkd.in/ehBRREta

Happy Giving Tuesday! We’re delighted to be participating in this year’s Big Give #ChristmasChallenge which means every £1 donated will be doubled. We’re raising money for our weekly youth-takeover Come As You Are, which was developed after surveying 200 young people in South London and listening to what they need out of community spaces. To support Come As You Are, donate at the link below between 3 – 10 December. ❣️ https://lnkd.in/ehBRREta

We're thrilled to have been longlisted for Digital Culture Network's 2025 #DigitalCultureAwards! 🥳 We've been recognised in the Digital Marketing category for our Festive Early Bird campaign, which spanned email and socials to drive early sales for our Christmas show. It's a pleasure to be sharing the longlist with some fantastic organisations, including our neighbours Migration Museum! https://lnkd.in/egcqerTg

Gavin Barlow has announced that he will stand down as CEO in March 2025 after nearly 22 years at the Albany.    Gavin has been instrumental in revolutionising the Albany over the last two decades, from an underappreciated community arts centre into a flourishing creative hub which has been appointed Lewisham Council’s Anchor Arts and Culture Organisation; led the delivery of over 600 events as part of the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture 2022; and been nominated for national and international awards.    The Albany Board has promoted Creative Director Vicki Dela Amedume MBE to the role of Creative Director and Joint CEO, effective from April 2025. Recruitment for a new role of Executive Director and Joint CEO will begin shortly.    Read the full statement on our website: https://lnkd.in/eiSdYCux

We've just launched an Individual Giving scheme, which will enable us to grow our community of supporters, and spread the word about the impact of our charitable work. In the past year, we've supported over 1,300 young people to access creative activities, provided 2,115 hours of paid employment to young creatives and worked with over 200 artists. It's now easy (with some help from Spektrix, Cog Design | B Corp and our staff team!) to make a one-off or monthly donation online. Monthly supporters will receive personalised updates, so you can see for yourself the difference your support is making. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/egFj3nhj

We worked in partnership with Southbank Centre to deliver the Technical Skills Symposium yesterday, and our Head of Engagement Kirsty Collander-Brown and Head of Technical Caitlin Crosby attended to discuss the skills shortages in technical roles in theatre and live events. At the Albany, we have been delivering technical training for young people over many years, most recently in partnership with Lewisham Music, Leila Jones (Showponies), DI Audio and Glastonbury Festival. This event connected so many extraordinary organisations to create an ecosystem which begins to address the huge issues we have in filling technical roles, as well as supporting young people into these exciting backstage positions. ( Photos: David Carter)

So many young people and alumni came out in force this weekend for our Love2Dance showcase 💃 Love 2 Dance began in response to requests from Lewisham Council Housing Services residents for street dance sessions. Aaron Augustus, a former IDO World Hip-Hop Dance Champion began delivering dance sessions over 10 years ago. The programme grew and has been working with young people aged 5-18 in estate-based youth centres across Lewisham ever since. Many young people have come to dance sessions every week for many years, building skills, confidence and making friends for life.

We’ve all heard the news about decreasing funding for the arts from local authorities, and it’s hard not to get disheartened by it.    In this week’s Arts Professional, our Chief Executive Gavin Barlow proposes a new way forward - moving beyond funder relationships to positioning ourselves as strategic partners for local authorities. “The Albany, like many arts centres, has experience and creativity and has built up trust with a wide demographic of local people over many years.” Arts centres are uniquely placed at the heart of our communities and we should use this to our advantage – we have huge potential to take a greater role as anchor institutions in our local areas. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/e9nFyMnj

It was such a joy to have the Commun team in our building a couple of weeks ago for Haramacy. Haramacy is a residency for for artists from Global Majority backgrounds to collaborate, celebrate outsider narratives and explore intersectional issues. They were resident in our building (and over the road at Deptford Lounge) for a week, culminating in a special performance on the Friday. Thanks to all the artists who took part and who brought such a great vibe to our building, especially the CaffA, making it feel buzzy with ideas and collaboration and contributing to our Pay-It-Forward board, which was much appreciated by our regulars. You can find out more about Commun here: https://www.commun.space (📸: Sade Mia and Jida Akil)