Building a Creative Nation will launch in Cardiff on 5th
December, with a manifesto by Creative & Cultural Skills, the
leading voice for youth employment in the creative industries.
The new national campaign will work with employers,
entrepreneurs and partners within the education sector
to create fairly-paid and equally accessible jobs and
apprenticeships, and is calling on all of the UK’s 106,700
creative enterprises to employ a young person, and double the
campaign target.
“We are passionate about making jobs in our sector accessible
to all, and we believe that by achieving this we can maximise
the potential of the country’s creative and cultural industries.”
Said Pauline Tambling, joint-CEO of Creative & Cultural Skills.
“Through the Building a Creative Nation campaign, we want to
engage many more industry leaders and creative practitioners.
Our creative sector is a world-leader, and we want to make
sure that the next generation are given the best chance of
excelling and becoming part of that success.”
It builds on Creative & Cultural Skills existing Creative
Employment Programme, which has already helped employers
take on 1,000 young people, and will enable a further 5,500
paid internships, apprenticeships and traineeships over the
next two years with funding from Arts Council England.
Employers in Wales can receive funding of up to £3,900 to
help take on an apprentice through the Welsh Government’s
Young Recruits scheme. Small employers could also be eligible
for an additional £500 and Creative & Cultural Skills provide
a range of services to support employers thinking about
apprenticeships.
Chair of the Building a Creative Nation campaign Doug
Richard, founder of School for Startups and former Dragon
Den’s panelist, has highlighted the disparity between a worldclass sector that contributes £36bn a year, £70,000 per minute,
to the national economy but often fails to provide adequate
employment opportunities and remuneration for young people.
He said “Creative & Cultural Skills is making a substantial
commitment to address this imbalance by ensuring that the
next generation of Damien Hirsts and Vivienne Westwoods
have the skills and experience needed to succeed in the
creative industries.” He went on to say “Building a Creative
Nation is on the way to orchestrating something tremendous
and I can’t wait to see the results.”
The talents of the UK’s young people must be harnessed in order
to ensure that the sector’s economic potential is realised. Creative
& Cultural Skills are also keen to stress that this is a UK-wide
initiative and highlight the fantastic young talent in the country.
The campaign is being championed by high-profile employers
from the creative and cultural industries, including Kanya King
MBE, founder of the MOBO Awards; Wayne Hemingway MBE,
founder of Red of Dead and Michael Jacobsen, founding
co-producer of Dirty Dancing.
One of the aims of the Building a Creative Nation campaign
is to encourage employers to sign up to the Fair Access
Principle, in order to make the industry more accessible
and demonstrate their commitment to fair and sustainable
recruitment practice.
To sign up to the campaign visit:
www.building-a-creative-nation.org
About Creative & Cultural Skills
Creative & Cultural Skills gives young people opportunities to
work and learn in the creative industries. They want to ensure
that employers benefit from a skilled generation of talent
and continue on a course of economic growth. Their network
of industry and education supporters - the National Skills
Academy for Creative & Cultural – is open to those who are
committed to the provision of high quality creative education
and training, apprenticeships and careers advice. Together,
they’ve created over 3,000 Creative Apprenticeships in the UK
since 2008, and they are committed to delivering a further
6,500 jobs in a 1000 days.
To find out more about taking on an apprentice contact:
Dienka Hines, Apprenticeship Manager, Wales
02920 444 195 / [email protected]
To sign up to the campaign visit: www.building-a-creative-nation.org