Brixton Buzz

As winter draws in and concern grows across the borough for the plight of rough sleepers, Clapham and Brixton Hill MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy has launched a local appeal for sleeping bag donations.

She’s teaming up with local homelessness charity Ace of Clubs, based in Clapham, which runs a community support centre providing hot food, clothing, advice and shelter to people facing homelessness, addiction and social isolation. The organisation says that even small acts of support can make a huge difference to those struggling to survive in the cold.

There’s an all day ‘Stand Up To Racism’ event taking place at the White Lion on Streatham this Sunday, 7th Dec

In the bar from 2pm there will be DJ’s playing soul, funk, boogie, reggae, rare groove and more – plus live PAs to be announced.

In the back room from 5pm – it is all about house music featuring some of London’s best house music DJ’s.

Entry is free with an optional donation to Stand Up to Racism.

More info

Stand Up To Racism

Sunday 7th December, 2pm onwards.

The White Lion

This December, the Brixton Chamber Orchestra (BCO) embarks on its much-loved Christmas Estates Tour 2025, bringing free, high energy live music to 11 housing estates across Lambeth.

The tour will run from 12th – 21st December 2025, transforming community halls and local spaces into festive pop-up concert venues.

Comprising a full orchestra ensemble of young, dynamic musicians, the orchestra offers a genre-blending programme that spans classical, carols, grime, jazz, pop, and seasonal favourites — all woven into a joyful, accessible experience.

Two heavyweight investigators are in Brixton tonight for Truth to Power: The Fraud, The Labour Files & Lambeth Connections, a one-off panel at the Karibu Centre. Paul Holden (author of The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy) appears alongside Richard Sanders (award-winning producer on The Labour Files and director with Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit).

Most homeless households in Lambeth should now expect to be placed outside the borough – and in many cases outside the southeast – under a major overhaul of the council’s Placement Policy.

The new policy, set to be approved by Labour Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Danial Adilypour, makes clear that “most households will have to move out of the borough and often out of the southeast” because of the severe shortage of affordable accommodation locally.

It also accepts that many families will potentially “lose proximity to support networks, schools or employment.”

The MOBO Group and Greene King have announced the opening of a new pub partnership together – the ‘House of MOBO’, a self-styled ‘vibrant community hub’ in Gipsy Hill that looks to celebrates Black culture and “reimagine what a modern pub can be.”

Opening its doors on Thursday 27 November, the ‘House of MOBO’ will operate at the site of the former Paxton pub (above) located at 255 Gipsy Road in Gipsy Hill, South London.

Lambeth Council has released its Quarter 2 2025/26 Budget Monitoring Report, and once again the picture is bleak.

Updating these stories each quarter gets no easier: the headline categories for overspends remain the same, but the figures are only going one way – up.

The Council’s already-fragile reserves remain “significantly below recommended levels”, leaving Lambeth on the thinnest of financial ice.

Lambeth Council has seen a dramatic rise in income from its parks and open spaces – up from just £150,000 in 2015 to around £1.8 million in 2025.

The turnaround follows the decision to bring the Parks Service back in-house in 2016, ending a long period of outsourcing and private contracts.

A new report to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee praises the in-house model as a success story.

Lambeth Council has declared themselves delighted to announce an outstanding performance at the London in Bloom 2025 awards, securing more accolades than any other borough this year.

They say that this remarkable achievement is a testament to the dedication of our staff, volunteers, and the strength of partnerships across the wider Lambeth community.

Key awards and achievements:

Large City of the Year: London Borough of Lambeth – Gold

Common of the Year: Clapham Common – Gold; Streatham Common – Gold

Lambeth Council is set to sign a ten-year, £5.8 million leasing deal with private landlord Woodstar Capital to provide 30 studio units for homeless residents in Streatham, as part of a push to cut its spiralling temporary accommodation bill.

Under the plan, approved in a Cabinet Member Delegated Decision Report, the council will take on five properties under Full Repairing and Insuring (FRI) leases at rents set at 90 per cent of the Local Housing Allowance rate.