Merton Council has celebrated its 60th birthday with well-attended events, highlighted by the launch of a three-year Cultural Impact Award. The award will see almost £1.2 million invested in cultural programmes across the borough, including a significant music festival and cultural activations in underutilised spaces such as empty shop fronts.
The announcement was made during a Council meeting on Wednesday, 9 July 2025, where councillors discussed various community matters.
Councillor Slawek Szczepanski asked the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride and Climate Change for an update on the celebrations and the Cultural Impact Award. The Cabinet Member responded that the 60th birthday celebrations were some of the most well-attended events the council has hosted. They added that the celebrations marked the launch of the three-year Cultural Impact Award, which will invest almost £1.2 million in cultural programmes across the borough. The Cultural Impact Award also aims to develop a sustainable base to create a thriving cultural sector for the future.
The funding for the Cultural Impact Award comes from various sources, including the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England, the National Heritage Lottery Fund, and council funding. The We Are Merton
campaign will be used as the messaging. Plans include not only a music festival, but also cultural activations in underutilised spaces, and a sustainable base to create a thriving cultural sector for the future. The council will build on consultation that was undertaken when first developing the bid to make the local cultural offer more representative of communities and to bring more cultural events to the east of the borough.
The council also marked its 60th birthday with town centre events and a community festival in Morden Park, attended by more than 10,000 people. Banners were put up in town centres, wildflower seeding took place, and lavender was planted at libraries and schools. Work also began on delivering twenty new Pocket Parks, one for each ward in the borough.