Futures For All Leads Renewed Push to Widen Access to Creative Careers

Discover Creative Careers Relaunches, Delivered by the Creative Careers Collective: Futures For All, Creative UK and Creative Access

As the UK’s leading social mobility charity, Futures For All is dedicated to levelling the playing field for all young people in state education. Our ambition, now and for the future, is that meaningful opportunities and routes into work exist for everyone, whatever their background.

When it comes to the creative sector, too many young people are excluded from the experiences and networks that lead to careers within it. This is despite the industry’s reliance on emerging talent to sustain its success in enriching lives and contributing £145 billion to the UK economy.

That's why we're proud to relaunch Discover Creative Careers: an industry-led, government-funded programme providing young people aged 11-24 with the support, skills and knowledge they need to build lasting careers in the cultural and creative industries. Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the programme aims to break down existing barriers to entry for young people from underrepresented backgrounds, whilst supporting industry, parents, careers advisers and educators to build new pathways to the sector.

Discover Creative Careers is delivered by the Creative Careers Collective, a national consortium comprising Futures For All (lead partner), Creative UK and Creative Access. Together, the Collective combines complementary strengths in education, industry engagement, digital delivery and social mobility to deliver an inclusive national careers service for young people.

Opening Doors to the Cultural Sector

Opportunities will include work experience; extra-curricular arts/technology clubs; networking events; informative webinars and careers talks, workshops and fairs.

A single UK-wide digital platform with listed opportunities and helpful resources will play a key role in bridging the gap between young people and employers, and provide a clear route into creative careers. The service will also equip teachers, parents, careers advisers and coaches with the insights, resources and industry connections they need to help young people navigate opportunities within the sector.

Activity will run year-round, with focused national moments including a refreshed Discover Month in November.

Additional delivery partners working alongside the Collective to enhance programme delivery and widen reach across all four UK nations include Arts Council Northern Ireland, The National Saturday Club and ATG Entertainment.

Our three-year partnership will aim to secure around 678,000 direct engagements with young people across all UK nations and regions. Futures For All’s offer will cover employer-led talks, workshops and work experience with the support of our extensive network of inspirational speakers and industry experts. These opportunities will help young people explore careers in the creative industries, and gain the insights, advice, skills and confidence they need to set them up for future success.

Real Experiences, Real Impact

“We're delighted to be leading Discover Creative Careers alongside Creative UK, Creative Access and our wider delivery partners... Discover Creative Careers will bring together schools, employers and industry partners through a single national programme, helping young people gain real-world experience, build confidence and turn their interest in the creative industries into real opportunities. By connecting employers with talented young people from every part of the UK, the programme will help open up opportunities, strengthen pathways into the sector and support the future talent pipeline for the creative industries.”

Nick Brook, CEO, Futures For All

“The UK's creative industries are the envy of the world, but that strength only holds if we engage the breadth of talent this country has to offer. Young people from every corner of the UK have stories worth telling and skills worth developing. Our job is to make sure the path into those industries is open to all of them. Discover Creative Careers is exactly the kind of programme that makes that possible. Bringing together employers, educators and young people creates real connections and opportunities to build a creative workforce that truly reflects the country it serves. I'm proud that this Government is funding it, and look forward to working with our new delivery partners.”

Ian Murray, Creative Industries Minister

Futures For All works to broaden young people’s horizons for what’s possible for their future – and Discover Creative Careers will do exactly that. However, it’s not possible without partners on the ground.

If you're an educator, help us identify and champion the young people who'd benefit from these opportunities. If you're an employer, open your doors through meaningful work experience and inspirational talks. If you’re a creative leader, our young people want to hear from you.

Help build the pipeline the creative industries depend on – and show young people that the sector is for everyone.

Visit Discover Creative Careers: https://discovercreative.careers/

Register your interest: discovercreative.careers/contact