From education to employment

DCMS Secretary visits Hackney Creative Apprenticeship provider

The Permanent Secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Jonathan Stephens, visited young people on the Creative Apprenticeship programme in Hackney last Friday.

He visited Rising Tide, which has been providing the Apprenticeship since January this year in music business and live events. The visit was an opportunity to engage with young individuals on the programme, and to see first-hand how it is helping them break into the highly competitive creative industries.

Mr Stephens said: "The Government believes that the creative industries are this country’s future. They will provide the new jobs, and they will be the drivers for the UK economy as the century progresses. So it’s great that Creative & Cultural Skills have been working – for over two years now – to engage employers and education providers in this Apprenticeship programme, which is giving people their first foot into the door of the industries and, importantly, making sure they receive a wage for doing so.

"Training providers such as Rising Tide work with the hardest to reach young people in society, those that may not be picked up by the further education system. Such organisations manage to engage some of those whose talent otherwise would go unnoticed. Often they are firmly rooted in both industry as well as education, making them the best people to deliver real world training."

Gabin Sinclair, director of Rising Tide, said: "We’re delighted to be part of such an exciting initiative; it’s a great opportunity for both young people and employers. Young people now have a real chance to get a foot through the door whilst employers will get qualified, skilled and experienced workers.

"Having delivered event management training for the last nine years and being based within a live music venue, we have seen the importance of work based learning within the creative industries and our course participants have reaped the benefits of working on industry events while completing their training."

According to recent research from Creative & Cultural Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the creative and cultural industries, employment in the creative industries has increased by nine per cent since 2006/2007. Employment in the music industry has grown by eight per cent over the past two years, and the creative industries contribute an increasing £24.8bn GVA to the economy.

Tom Bewick, chief executive, Creative & Cultural Skills commented: "We’re pleased that organisations such as Rising Tide have committed their support and are offering Apprenticeships to the young people of Hackney, an area rich in creative and cultural heritage.

"Our research shows that the music industry is highly competitive, with unstructured entry routes. People coming into music don’t know what skills they need and career development is unclear or non-existent. Getting a job often depends on who you know rather than what you know, and sometimes the only way is to be a volunteer. The new Creative Apprenticeship is a fresh approach opening doors to people from all corners of society."


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