Three London councils have secured City Hall funding for stand alone culture projects as part of the London Borough of Culture awards.

Haringey, Sutton and Hammersmith and Fulham – essentially runners up in the bidding process – will each receive up to £200,000.

Lewisham won the overall award for 2021 at the ceremony this morning, and Croydon will be Borough of Culture in 2023.

Haringey’s winning project is a community feast to raise money for food banks in the local area.

Hammersmith and Fulham will run a music training scheme for vulnerable young people in the borough.

And Sutton will host a community laser and light show to encourage local people to engage with science.

Deputy Mayor for Culture Justine Simons said these three cultural impact awards recognised “exemplary projects that show real ambition and innovation”.

She said: “What we always ask boroughs to do when they bid, is to go for the title award but also tell us what is the most exciting project they want to do in their year.

“That allows us to pick out these really exemplary projects and they become a moment to galvanise people around a stepping stone to bigger things.”

Sadiq Khan told the Local Democracy Service today that the scheme shows London is “open-minded, outward looking, pluralistic, open to people and new ideas”.

He said: “Look at the size of our country, around 65 million, yet around the world people know our singers, they know our actors, they know our plays and theatre writers, they know our artists – because we punch well above our weight.”

He added: “I’m not saying everyone is going to be a Stormzy or an Adele or a Kate Moss or a David Bowie.

“But they’re going to understand that actually, art is a testament to all of us.

“One of my frustrations is that art is quite elitist, and unless you live in Zone One or you can afford fare prices, you can’t enjoy the arts.

“Not true – that’s not what the London Borough of Culture is about.”