Highgate arts hub awarded £200k lottery cash to help celebrate 50th anniversary

Jacksons Lane has a large programme of events planned throughout 2025 to mark its half-century

Jacksons Lane has been awarded £206,000 by from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its “ambitious” 50th anniversary celebrations next year.

The Highgate art hub’s half-century milestone will now be marked with a “dynamic programme of heritage activities, community engagement, and restoration projects” throughout 2025.

Founded in 1975 by members of the local community, Jacksons Lane has grown into the flagship arts and cultural centre of Haringey, reaching over 72,000 people annually. Rooted in its community and activist origins, Jacksons Lane offers a year-round programme of contemporary performance, participation, and creative education aimed at empowering diverse communities and breaking down barriers.

Additionally, Jacksons Lane has established itself as a leading organisation in the creation, presentation, and development of contemporary circus theatre.

The ’50 Years of Jacksons Lane’ celebrations will include the completion of crucial restoration work on the building’s roof, along with the continued retrofit of our LED lighting rig in the theatre. The Grade-2 listed status of the building will be marked through the reinstatement of a stone cross above the entrance, and a permanent, publicly-accessible archive will be developed in collaboration with Bruce Castle Museum and Archive.

In its 50th year, Jacksons Lane will also celebrate the many communities that have shaped that history through a large-scale ‘memory collection’ project and the creation of a new oral history collection, which will tour Haringey’s libraries as part of a pop-up exhibition.

Additionally, there will be an enhancement of the already-established creative engagement programmes for older adults, schools, and communities.

The anniversary programme will culminate with a Birthday Street Party on 27th June 2025.

Jacksons Lane executive director Hannah Cox and artistic director Adrian Berry said: “We are incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for this investment, which will enable us to deliver a year of ambitious and inspiring engagement, heritage activities, and celebrations.

“With our communities at the heart of this initiative, this funding will allow us to share our unique history with thousands of people across Haringey and beyond. It will also provide training and volunteering opportunities, improve our environmental sustainability, and support vital roof and restoration work on our Grade-2 listed building.’”

Stuart McLeod from The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “We are delighted to support this project, which thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, will mean that more people will be able to get involved with, protect, and learn about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep. Heritage has a huge role to play in instilling pride in communities and boosting local economies, and this project is a fantastic example of achieving those aims.”

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