Wandsworth Council: Bringing a borough of culture to life through volunteers

Introduction

When Wandsworth was named the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture 2025, it marked the start of a year-long celebration of art, music, dance, theatre, and community spirit across the borough.

From Strictly Wandsworth to the Tooting Food Festival and everything in between, the ambition was clear: bring culture to life in every ward and ensure local people were at the heart of it.

Wandsworth Council partnered with Enable to design and deliver the programme, supported by a volunteer workforce powered through Rosterfy. Volunteers became the backbone of the year, helping bring the magic to life across hundreds of events and activities.

The Challenge

Delivering the London Borough of Culture year meant coordinating one of the most ambitious cultural programmes in the borough’s history.

This involved:

• Coordinating a large, diverse volunteer base across 700+ events and activities
• Managing a wide variety of roles from welcoming and wayfinding to tree planting and painting
• Ensuring consistent communication, onboarding, and support across a fast-moving programme
• Creating a volunteer experience that felt personal, rewarding and well-recognised
• Supporting accessibility and inclusion across every ward in the borough
• Capturing meaningful data and insight to evidence impact

As the first year of a five-year volunteering strategy, the approach also needed to set a strong foundation for long-term engagement and sustained community involvement beyond the Borough of Culture year.

The Solution

Rosterfy provided Wandsworth with a centralised volunteer management solution that supported both the scale and the spirit of the programme.

This enabled the team to:

• Coordinate hundreds of volunteers across 700+ events
• Manage shift allocation, onboarding, and communication in one place
• Track volunteer participation and impact in real time
• Deliver a structured reward and recognition programme that celebrated contribution
• Support a consistent, engaging volunteer experience – regardless of event size or type

Across the programme, Rosterfy’s platform ensured volunteering was not only operationally seamless, but genuinely meaningful for everyone involved.

The Impact

The London Borough of Culture year delivered exceptional engagement across Wandsworth, driven by a volunteer programme coordinated through Rosterfy. Across the year:

• 700+ events and activities delivered
• 500,000+ people participating in cultural projects
• 700 volunteers involved
• 2,000+ volunteer hours contributed
• 400+ shifts completed

The impact went beyond delivery. Through the Local Champions programme, volunteers became active decision-makers in shaping the cultural year: 

• 72 community grants awarded across five programmes
• Over £250,000 invested directly into local community projects

As Wandsworth moves into the legacy phase of its five-year volunteering strategy, the foundations built with Rosterfy during the Borough of Culture year continue to underpin a growing programme of community-led events and sustained volunteer engagement.