One-stop-shop for impact evidence

A new online resource aims to help officers working in local authorities to make a better case for the role of the arts in achieving social and economic objectives – such as health or crime outcomes. The Culture Database, created by London Councils, the umbrella body for London’s boroughs which represents the capital’s 33 local authorities, also enables them to look at the provision that already exists in their area and assess local participation rates.
London councils hopes that, by providing a central point for evidence that arts, cultural and leisure services are not only valuable in-and-of themselves but also help meet other goals, the database will help users to make a case for funding, or continuing to fund, a particular type of intervention. Mayor Jules Pipe, Chair of London Councils, said: “All too often, the arts are wrongly seen as optional activities. This database features a wealth of evidence demonstrating how arts funding can help achieve other social goods”.