Untold Stories is a £1m fund to help communities test, develop, create and grow projects that share their community’s stories with the city and raise public understanding.

London is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with more than 300 languages spoken every day. Yet its statues, plaques and street names no longer reflect our city's stories.

The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm was established in 2020 to enrich and add to the current public realm and advise on better ways to raise public understanding behind existing statues, street names, building names and memorials.

It was committed to building an accessible programme that is sensitive to the beliefs, views and opinions of all Londoners, helping people have a better understanding of London’s diverse histories.

The Commission has supported programmes to help enhance the representation of women, disabled people, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and LGBTQI+ figures in our public spaces, but also improving our collective understanding of our shared history.

The Commission programme had four delivery strands:
- Mapping and Data – commissioning research to understand the current landscape of representation in the public realm. This included funding Art UK to undertake the first comprehensive audit of public sculpture and monuments across the capital. This study underpinned delivery of future projects.

- Emblematic Projects – projects of scale and significance that embodied the Commission’s Values and Principles. This has included funding the London Aids Memorial on Tottenham Court Road and London’s first permanent Memorial for the Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in West India Quay.

- Community engagement – a programme of work aimed at changing the narrative about who decides and makes what is in the public realm. Projects included the London Unseen network of Community Heritage Practitioners and Untold Stories, a £1million grant programme, supporting 70 community-led projects across London.

- Policy, Practice and legacy - embedding best practice and influencing policy to deliver long-term change in the public realm.