Grassroots music venues have been declining in London for the past three years, and nationally 123 music venues closed in 2023. 

Another 45 venues in London alone have shut down this year, leaving only big corporate venues open for touring musicians who can afford to bring their bands across.

Musician Esther Rose spoke about the importance of having venues where musicians can practice and perform without worrying about corporate spending.

 “As an artist I just needed to start doing it, that’s how you learn and we needed spaces to learn to become Taylor Swift,” she said.

Watch the video below for more.

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Roehampton charity SW15 Music are set to take a group of seven children to Glastonbury 2025 where they will perform classic hits from artists across the decades including Bruno Mars, Fleetwood Mac and Oasis.

The charity, which teaches children how to play instruments and perform in bands for free, secured a spot on the Mandala Stage through a collaboration with Replay Music in a celebration of cultural diversity.

Zarina, who has been in the band for just over a year since moving to London from Ukraine, said: “I love playing music because it inspires me and it really is a magical experience.”

“It helps you to go through any situation, it’s always there for you.”

Bill Marney, 70, who set up SW15 Music after a career as a social worker, said: “Hopefully it will be successful and we’ll be able to do it for many years to come.”

Watch the full report below.

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Organised by the London Parks & Gardens charity, London Open Gardens 2025 opened the gates to more than 100 green spaces usually closed to the public across the capital.

The annual weekend fundraiser offered Londoners exclusive access to rooftop terraces, community-run plots and historic enclosures, including 10 Downing Street and Marlborough House, the headquarters of the Commonwealth.

With climate change and funding cuts placing pressure on urban greenery, this year’s theme spotlighted the role green spaces play in wellbeing.

A visit to Marlborough House with the director of London Parks and Gardens Trust Tim Webb was first, and he outlined the mission behind the event and the significance of London’s 4,000 green spaces.

Webb said: “London’s parks are more than pretty backdrops – they’re essential infrastructure.

“Open Gardens is about showing the hidden gems that people walk past every day without realising their value.”

Two more exclusive sites in southwest London were visited: first, the Spurgeon Estate Community Garden where, six years ago, the residents transformed a patch of land into a flourishing space of nature and friendship.

Later, the rooftop garden at the Ismaili Centre in South Kensington, home to the UK’s Ismaili Muslim community, which opened in 1985 as the first Islamic building of its kind.

Each garden certainly told a story of care and of London’s ever-growing need for protected green spaces.

Watch the full video to learn more about these hidden spaces.

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Plays being taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and theatres face funding challenges to keep their shows on the road. 

Funding for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was reduced by a further 1.4% on Wednesday, following spending reductions by the government of 16% since 2017. 

As the government gives out increasingly less money for culture in the UK, and arts council funding becomes more highly sought after, theatres and independent productions are looking to different revenue sources for their income. 

Youth in Flames, a production about white identity in Hong Kong during the 2019 protests, is a play going to the Edinburgh Fringe later this year. 

Writer and performer of the one-woman show, Mimi Minton, said: “With ticket sales, we may break even, who knows?

“It’s a tough gig.” 

Tickets can be bought for their London previews here and for the Edinburgh Fringe here.

The Orange Tree theatre in Richmond has shifted to a more American model of hip and patronage. 

Following this style of fundraising has brought them success, as they have seen a 75% revenue increase from 2022/23 to 2023/24.

Find out more about these challenges below.

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South West Londoner attended a Q&A at Richmond’s bookstore, Books On The Rise, held by Anglo-German children’s illustrator Axel Scheffler, best known for his popular illustrations of The Gruffalo, Stick Man and Zog.

The event, which took place on Thursday 5 June, was organised as part of the borough of Richmond’s ‘Reaffirmation Weekend’, celebrating the renewal of its twinning agreements with Konstanz in and Fontainebleau in .

The illustrator was ed by his long-time author and collaborator Alison Green, the Scholastic publishing team and of the refugee charity Three Peas, including his partner, Clementine Koenig, to discuss the new picture book that was created in of the charity.

South West Londoner spoke to Scheffler and Koenig, who provided insights into the making of the picture book and discussed the work and mission of the Three Peas charity.

Watch the video below to find out more.

If you wish to make a donation please visit the Three Peas website.

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The borough Wandsworth is getting its own radio drama, hitting the airwaves this summer for London Borough of Culture.

The Wandsworth Way will bring the borough’s stories to life with a brand new 40-part weekly drama produced by award winning local broadcaster Riverside Radio, in collaboration with, and is ed by Wandsworth Council as part of its year as the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2025.

Set across the borough and written with the help of local people, the show promises entertaining storylines and down-to-earth, unforgettable characters who are bound to make you fall in love with the heartfelt show.

At the heart of the story is Tash Defoe, a world-famous author returning to Wandsworth after years away, and Mike Hardy, a fiercely proud local cabbie.

When their worlds collide in unexpected ways, they find themselves travelling across the borough, both literally and emotionally, as they rediscover what ‘home’ really means.

The soap has been written by Audio and Radio Industry award winning playwright James Fritz in collaboration with a team of local writers and performers.

Fritz said: “I’m thrilled to be working on this ambitious and necessary project, and to be given the chance to work with so many brilliant Wandsworth writers on telling a new, epic story about their area. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”

The first episode will air on Sunday June 29 at 5pm on Riverside Radio, with new episodes every Sunday until April 2026.

Cllr Kemi Akinola, deputy leader of Wandsworth Council, said: “I’m so excited that Wandsworth is getting its very own radio soap opera. It’s the perfect way to hear local voices and experiences, celebrate the people of Wandsworth and reflect the themes of culture, wellbeing and community at the heart of our year as London Borough of Culture. I can’t wait to listen!”

For more information and to get involved, visit thewandsworthway.com

Image by Studio_Iris from Pixabay

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Hailey Bieber is an American model, influencer, creative director and business woman – and she is making some intriguing moves.

She had began her modelling career back in 2014 with Ford Models, she has appeared in a variety of magazines like on the front cover of Vogue, worked for multiple designers and been involved and starred in massive brand campaigns like L’Oreal and Calvin Klein.

She is known to the world as being the ultimate ‘clean’ girl, with her nude tones of makeup, large bomber jackets, oversized blazers and sleek bun. She frequently incorporates elements like skinny sunglasses, sturdy loafers, and minimal accessories which makes the clean girl aesthetic look.

Her appearance is not the main part of her career, it was only the beginning, as the recent deal with Rhode demonstrated.

Rhode was founded in 2022 by the clean girl herself, with the brand title derived from her middle name of Rhode. This brand is mainly a skincare brand and it offers products such as lip balms, facial cleansers and lotions.

All these products are meant to help women and young girls feel beautiful in their natural self. Rhode products are certified cruelty-free, and its packaging uses PCR and FSC-certified materials.

Like Rhode, E.l.f beauty is also a high-quality, and cruelty-free makeup and skincare products which is commercially compatible with Rhode beauty, with Rhode having the same features when it comes to packaging and processing the products.

It was founded in 2004 by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba. The brand has a wide product range, they supply makeup such as, blush, lip gloss, mascara and their most popular products are the power grip primer and e.l.f halo glow.

This brand aims to cater every aspect of makeup, emphasizing its diversity and making all their products approachable and usable for all. 

This skincare brand, with its ethical appearance, has massive popularity due to Bieber using social media platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram and promoting the brand exhaustively. By doing this she has reported over $200 million in net sales for the year of 2025.

Last month, Bieber revealed on Instagram to her 55.1 million followers that she had struck a deal with e.l.f Beauty.

She said: “I found a like-minded disruptor with a vision to be a different kind of company that believes in big ideas and innovation in the same way that I do and will help us to continue to grow the brand.“

This deal is acquired to be valued up to $1 billion (£740m) and Bieber still has her position as Chief Creative Officer and Head of Innovation for Rhode, but she now has a new position with e.l.f as a strategic advisor.

She added on Instagram: “I feel invigorated, excited and more ready than ever to step into an even bigger role as chief creative officer and head of innovation of Rhode as well as strategic advisor to e.l.f beauty.” 

Bieber has not spoken about her deal with e.l.f since the Instagram post but there will likely be more to come from the model mogul on the rise.

Featured Image: Flickr – Creative Commons Licence

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An American actor believes everyone has the ability to display a specific trait of a serial killer, an exclusive quote revealed.

The exclusive quote from actor Dennis Quaid was shared via JustWatch, about his role in the new Paramount+ series Happy Face.

Quaid, who is known for his charismatic performances in The Substance and The Parent Trap, assumed the role of a manipulative and emotionless killer in a series which analysed the gray area between nature and nurture.

He said: “Serial killers in a way are very easy to play because they don’t really have any empathy and feelings. 

“We all have that capability maybe inside of us… so the question becomes really about ourselves.

“Or we suspect we do, so it gets down to human nature and the question becomes really about ourselves.”

The Netflix series Adolescence, which was released on 13 March, tells the story of how the character Jamie murdered a girl and how this affected the day-to-day life of his family.

Quaid’s view that all have the capability to lack empathy or feelings means everyone should question themselves.

This was evident in Adolescene, where Jamie reached the point of lacking empathy and feelings, leading to him being able to murder. 

Actors and writers have analysed whether Quaid’s quote rings true, and, if so, what anyone being able to lack empathy and feelings could lead to.

Actor and musician Ayomikun Omiteru, 22, said: “In a way, I do agree with the statement as many can commit such acts, they’ve just got to be pushed to their limits really and truly. 

“I don’t feel like people are killers, it may just be the circumstances that are made, that may force them to do it. 

“Dennis is very right with that, it does bottle down to human nature.

“Empathy and feelings are all that needs to be taken away, and some of the harder roles are when I do have to put a lot more empathy and feelings into it.

“It is scary to see that all that really needs to be removed to commit a wrongdoing is empathy and feelings because all a person needs to convince themselves of, is that they are doing the action for the right reason, even if they were not raised that way.”

Adolescence portrays Jamie as a boy who was raised in a lovingly family home, but what he believed to be ill-treatment from a fellow student was, in his mind, enough to warrant death.

Omiteru said: “I feel like what happened with Jamie can happen with people who do not know themselves and are looking for an agenda to adopt. 

“Some people may fall for this agenda, maybe because of how they have been hurt in the past so now they want to get their revenge. 

“There’s a lot of ideas of toxic masculinity out there and to me, that doesn’t make you a man, that makes you a weak man.”

People in the industry agreed that it may be a matter of human nature as, everyone has the ability to display emotions which may lead to actions.

In the case of Adolescence, it is was one murder, while in the case of Happy Face it was becoming a serial killer.

Actor and writer Temisanren Uwawah, 28 said: “What I gather from the human nature reference, is analysing how do you get from point A to point B?

“I think if the action is, for example, in the case of Jamie, murder then murder is the outcome, it is the final thing someone does. 

“And if the final product is murder, then would it have started off with anger, jealousy, disappointment, hurt or revenge. 

“All of those things feed into the final outcome. I guess when Dennis says it’s down to human nature, I imagine he means the build-up of human emotions that lead you to such outcomes.”

Uwawah’s sold out play, Ifunaya (meaning love), was recently performed at Theatre Peckham, where it was chosen to be performed out of 150 submissions and had around 590 people in attendance. 

He said: “I think the biggest thing that comes into play in acting, is empathy. 

“Although, you may be acting in a role that you disagree with, your job as an actor is to get to a point where you can resonate with the element of why the character does what they do. 

“Once you understand their why, it becomes easier to portray that character.

“Being a serial killer would not come naturally but it’s understanding the why.

“If it is just loving their daughter, then we can all relate to love in some way and how far, would we be willing to go to protect someone.”

Featured image: Unsplash

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Wandsworth Arts Fringe (WAF) launched yesterday with a colourful taster of the diverse programme lined up this month. 

The event at Sambrook’s Brewery brought together everyone involved in bringing the festival to life, including pop-up appearances from WAF 2025 artists and speeches from Wandsworth’s and deputy youth mayor, who launched the 17 day program.

The annual arts fringe, organised by Wandsworth Council, is in its 16th year and unites hundreds of creatives, featuring 180 events in 65 venues across the borough from 6-22 June.

Mayor of Wandsworth Jeremy Ambache said: “The aim is to reach every member of the community.” 

There are six main hub venues spread across the borough including National Opera Studio in Wandsworth Town, Royal Academy of Dance in Battersea, The Arches in Putney and The Bedford in Balham.

Over 60 of the events are free, with £3 tickets available for other events for Wandsworth Access for All card holders.

These range from theatre to experimental dance, and music, exhibitions, cabaret and comedy.

The launch event yesterday saw performances from Autin Dance Theatre, performing Parade – The Giant Wheel, which featured a 12-foot tall wheel powered by six dance artists and accompanied by music. 

Hyelim Kim also brought a celebration of Asian heritage with a solo performance on a Korean daegeum flute.

Both pop-up artists were amongst the 30 recipients of the WAF grant, which was awarded for representation of the diversity of Wandsworth, and delivering projects which celebrate the stories and proud cultural heritage of the borough and bringing communities together.

This year Wandsworth Arts Fringe is part of wider cultural celebrations in the area which was named as The Mayor of London’s London Borough of Culture 2025, an award introduced by Sadiq Khan in 2017.

Deputy Mayor for culture and the creative industries Justine Simons OBE said: “Wandsworth will come alive this summer with a vibrant celebration of creativity and community. 

“The Mayor’s London Borough of Culture will see an unforgettable summer of performance, art and music, boosting the local economy and great opportunities for young people.”

WAF events encourage youth participation across its established Young Reporters, Reviewers & Producers programme, aimed at 14-19 years old. The participants will have free access to the festival events with the project aimed at developing journalistic and creativity skills. 

The festival will also host the annual WAF Schools’ Showcases, celebrating the talents of young people from schools in the borough.

Deputy youth mayor Sophia Dyson, 16, said: “WAF and Welcome to Wandsworth continue to the next generation of creatives.

“It is all about access, inclusion and ing young talent.” 

Other events to watch out for during the borough’s year of culture include Wandsworth Heritage Festival from Friday 13 June to Sunday 13 July, and the annual Battersea Park in Concert series on 23, 24 and 25 August.

A two-day music festival, Country on the Common, is also set to take place on Tooting Common on 5 and 6 July with performances from UK Eurovision entrants Monday and Schitt’s Creek star Noah Reid.

Wandsworth Council deputy leader and cabinet member for business, voluntary services and culture Kemi Akinola said: “This year aims to show how heritage and culture intersect with one another, inspire one another, and form part of one another.”

Picture Credit: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Wandsworth Council

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The owners of the Eel Pie Club will host a street party to celebrate its 25 anniversary and Twickenham’s rich music heritage.

The vibrant event is set to take place on August 17 from 12-5pm on Church Street, and will feature five live bands on an open air stage, various DJ sets and market stalls filled with 1960s memorabilia. 

Aiming to invoke the spirit of the ’60s, the street party will pay homage to the likes of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd, all who previously performed at Eel Pie Island. 

Eel Pie Club co-owner Gina Way said: “These kind of events are so important for the local community because they bring everyone together.” 

A Crowdfunder has been launched to help the running of the event, making it entirely community-powered. 

Twickenham 60s Day is being held in collaboration with Church Street Traders Association and A Taste of Twickenham, two groups which actively promote music events within the area. 

The 1960s-orientated lineup consists of The Eel Pie All-Stars and The 60s All-Stars, both of which feature from iconic bands including The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Foundations. 

Attendees will also be able to enjoy a kids’ zone with art activities, Mod Vespas and a walking tour which will explore Church Street’s music and film history. 

Way said: “We want to unite different generations, alongside giving the younger crowd a taste of what Twickenham was like during the ’60s.”

Way added all of the activities on the day seek to honour Twickenham’s status as a music and cultural hub. 

There will also be an intimate acoustic set at Brewery Market at 5pm and live ’60s music played into the night at The Eel Pie Pub and The Fox.

Entry to the street party is free and tickets can be accessed here.

Feature image: Gina Way

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