Open House Mentoring Programme
This year we are putting all the help and support you need to open for the festival in one place.
Opening your home, building or neighbourhood for the festival is an amazing way of connecting with your community, creating a buzz in your area, bringing new people through your door, sharing your story with others and being a part of London's cultural calendar.
Below is everything you need to know about the new Mentoring Programme – what it will cover, how it will work, how much it costs and the bursary places on offer.
Scroll to the bottom for your Mentoring Programme options.
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The programme is a series of digital workshops, social events, online training sessions, copywriting advice and feedback to help anyone who wants to be a contributor to the festival.
To make the process of opening your place for the first time as straightforward as possible we have compiled a programme that has everything you need to know in one place, from the technical and logistical side of things, to more general advice, support and tips on how to get the most from this experience.
Far beyond this festival, the course will equip you with all the knowledge you will need to run and communicate lively events that appeal to a wide and diverse range of people.
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Every year we have a number of buildings and places who are newer to opening their buildings and understandably have a lot of questions as they go through the process of how it all works. As much as a Frequently Asked Questions page on the website can offer some guidance, we wanted to be able to offer a greater level of support to as many different people as possible.
This year we have created a programme that has all the help and support a festival newcomer might need, all in one place. The programme is a way for people who want to contribute to the festival to receive staff support, learn from each other, ask lots of questions, test run ideas, as well as covering the essentials.
Running a programme in this way rather than offering ad hoc support gives us the chance to dedicate time and resources to those who need our help. Plus, we have 30 years of experience to share with contributors and this is the most effective way for us to do this.
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The database and listing your building or place
What to include about your building
Getting people through the door
Volunteers
Getting your space ready
Opening up your neighbourhood
Programming activities
As it stands the programme addresses five themes, within which there are over 15 topics covered. There will also be lots of chances to have your questions answered, sound-out ideas and troubleshoot any problems, both at on-line talks and over email.
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From spring onwards, we will host on-line talks, host events and share videos that will initially run through the essentials and then move on to more in-depth help on how to develop your contribution to the festival.
The online talks run through a topic before opening into a Q+A. All these talks are turned into on-demand videos.
All the content created for the scheme is added to the Mentoring Programme on-line library which can be accessed through our website via a login. You will receive logins once you’ve signed up to the Mentoring Programme.
If you are an individual or community group applying for a bursary place, you will get access to this once your place has been approved.
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For individuals opening their homes: £75
For community groups: £120
For SME’s or smaller commercial organisations: £240
For larger commercial organisations: £500
The fee to join the Mentoring Programme is reflective of whether you are an individual, community project, or a commercial organisation. We have a number of bursary spaces for individuals and community groups to give them access to this programme of support.
As it is the first year, we are offering a 10% discount to all levels of programme fee.
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It’s really important that this programme is accessible, therefore we have a number of bursary places available for the Mentoring Programme. These are aimed at buildings and communities currently under-represented in the festival, or those that want to be part of the Mentoring Programme but the standard cost is unfeasible.
You can apply for a full bursary or for a discount to your Mentoring Programme fee.
People and places that we would like to see apply are:
Homes that are rented rather than owned
Community spaces
Houseboats
Faith spaces such as mosques and synagogues
Housing estates
The bursary places can be applied for up to early Summer and all the content and support accessed.
More about the bursary places
The bursary places are aimed at individuals and community groups who want to contribute and open a space for the festival, and utilise the Mentoring Programme. We understand that the Mentoring Programme fee might not be viable for some and to prevent this from being a barrier to the contributing to the festival, we are offering a number of bursary places.
Below is a breakdown of the sorts of groups and spaces we would welcome applications from. If you do not fall under one of these but would still like to be considered for the festival, please do still apply.
Individuals and their homes
We would like to see applications from people who live in:
Housing estates
Homes that are rented rather than owned
Homes in the East London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest.
Houseboats
Co-living spaces in converted industrial spaces
Housing co-operatives
Community groups and their spaces
We would like to see applications from:
Groups who are custodians of buildings or spaces that are under-represented in the festival, such as faith spaces like synagogues and mosques, or residents associations for housing estates.
A community or cultural space that is at risk of closing, like youth club, library, art studio.
A community group or charity who work and give space to young people
A community group or charity who work with and give space to marginalised groups
Click through to the application form below.
We will aim to get back to you with an update in 10 working days
Join the Mentoring Programme
The fee to join the Mentoring Programme is reflective of whether you are an individual, community project, or a commercial organisation. We have a number of bursary spaces for individuals and community groups to give them access to this programme of support.