Georgia Luckhurt of The Stage has covered the news that Creative Access’ Career Development Bursary will allow 49 creatives will receive vital funding to cover equipment, training, travel, and other career-critical costs. 

The coverage featured a testimonial from Welsh theatremaker Mehdi Razi, who is using the funding to attend director courses to support an upcoming project: “This bursary comes at a pivoting point in my career. I only recently stepped into my first executive role as co-artistic director of Papergang theatre company where I will need investing in gaining new vision and skills. This bursary funds such crucial elements of mentoring and training and impact this stage of my career’s development.”

Read: Creative Access hands out 49 bursaries to address ‘critical’ career costs

Advanced Television has covered Creative Access’ announcement of its most recent Career Development Bursary recipients: 49 creatives will receive vital funding to cover equipment, training, travel, and other career-critical costs. The highest number of applications came from creatives working in TV & film.

The coverage featured a testimonial from recipient Noor Kabbanian, an aspiring Film & TV freelancer based in Scotland who will be using the funding to attend the National Film and Television ‘Under-represented Voices Writing Lab’. On receiving the Bursary, Noor said: “As a Global Majority creative, this amazing bursary has allowed me to participate in a course aimed at teaching under-represented screenwriters how to navigate the industry and empower their artistic visions”.

Read: Funding demand hits record high for under-represented creatives

Mid-level talent face deep financial challenges to career progression as Creative Access announce recipients of Career Development Bursary, supported by WME & McLaren Racing  

Creative Access, the UK’s leading diversity, equity & inclusion social enterprise has announced that 49 creatives will receive vital funding to cover equipment, training, travel, and other career-critical costs. A record-breaking surge in demand for financial support has exposed the growing crisis facing talent from under-represented groups in the UK’s creative industries. 

Now in its fourth year, the Creative Access Career Development Bursary – generously supported this year by WME and McLaren Racing’s Engage Programme – received over 1,000 applications, a three-fold increase from last year. McLaren Racing has worked with Creative Access since 2021 as part of its McLaren Racing Engage Alliance to open up pathways in motorsports careers.  

The spike in demand reveals that financial barriers are preventing aspiring, junior and mid-level creatives from breaking into and progressing in the industry. Recent data from Creative Access showed that 81% of respondents cite financial constraints, including commuting and living costs, as obstacles to applying for new roles.  

Recipients of the Bursary span the UK and represent a broad range of creative sectors, from publishing to TV & film, theatre, visual arts, music and fashion. The majority (35%) of Bursary recipients are at mid-level in their careers, revealing the struggles that experienced and skilled talent – who have successfully carved out careers over the past decade – are now facing in progressing their careers and staying in the creative sector. 

The steep rise in Bursary applications demonstrates the intersectionality of the challenge for creatives. Those from lower socio-economic backgrounds (71%) and/or those from Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds (70%) made up the majority of applications, and disabled talent equated for nearly half of all applicants (47%). This increase in demand for funding is the result of longstanding inequalities in the sector: 90% of the arts workforce are white (PEC), whilst the number of working-class creatives has halved since the 1970s (ONS). The disability employment gap also remains large; in 2024, only 53% of disabled people were employed compared to 81.6% of non-disabled people (ONS). 

Geography also plays a part. While London remains the UK’s largest creative hub, its high living costs continue to squeeze out talent from under-represented groups. Over half (52%) of all applicants were based in the capital, reflecting both the concentration of creative jobs and the financial barriers involved with sustaining a career there. Across the UK’s creative hubs, getting access to funding, support and networks to grow a creative career is a barrier for talent at all stages. The Bursary has been awarded to recipients across the UK, including Scotland, South East, South West, North East, North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, Wales, and Yorkshire and the Humber.  

The highest number of applications came from creatives working in: 

1. Film & TV 

2. Music  

3. Art  

4. Theatre  

5. Publishing  

Each successful applicant will receive a grant between £250 and £1,000, enabling them to advance their careers. Uses for the bursary include: 

• Essential equipment such as laptops, software and cameras  

• Driving lessons to access opportunities 

• Travel and commuting costs 

• Training courses 

• Rent and living expenses 

Leon Clowes, is a mid-level musician studying a PhD, using the funding towards travel and accommodation to attend a music workshop leadership course. They said: “As an older artist in addiction recovery, this chance to join New Note Orchestra’s first community music leadership scheme is game-changing. Being with peers who share my experiences is unparalleled. Huge thanks to Creative Access for making my participation possible through the bursary – this opportunity means everything.” 

Louisa Agyei is a student aspiring to work in fashion, using the Bursary for an iPad to develop her collection. On receiving the funding, she said: “Opportunities like the Creative Access Bursary are essential, especially for under-represented communities like mine. Due to financial limitations, many of us are forced to abandon our artistic pursuits in favour of other jobs just to survive, which also restricts our creative growth. Support like this is crucial, it not only provides the necessary resources but also empowers and encourages people of colour to pursue careers in the arts without feeling limited by a lack of resources.”  

Mel Rodrigues, CEO at Creative Access: 

“This upsurge in demand for financial support is our strongest wake-up call yet. We are at serious risk of losing a critical mass of excellent creatives who help make our sector world-class – as well as failing to create a robust future pipeline – if financial barriers to entry and progression are not addressed. Creativity should not be a privilege and financial interventions like the Bursary are a vital step to ensuring that talented people – from all backgrounds and parts of the UK – are able to access the resources they need to progress and thrive in our industry. Now more than ever, we need to come together as a sector to deliver more consistent and scalable solutions to the financial lock-out”. 

Sagina Shabaya, Senior Director, Impact, Inclusion & Advocacy, EMEA at WME: 

“We believe in the importance of championing the next generation of artists and continue to support organisations that help to democratise access and break down barriers so that all creatives have the ability to be discovered. We’re proud to support Creative Access Career Development Bursary recipients and the work they continue to do to create a diverse and thriving industry.”  

Kim Wilson, Director of Sustainability at McLaren Racing: 

“We are thrilled to announce another year collaborating with Creative Access, which has been a key partner in our Engage Alliance since 2021 as part of the team’s flagship DE&I programme. Through the launch of these initiatives, we can open pathways and break down some of the barriers to working in industries like motorsport, supporting talented individuals through their journey. We want to pioneer equal access and set the benchmark for diversity and inclusion in sport and programmes like this are helping us to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to start up in the industry.” 

About the Bursary

• The Creative Access Career Development Bursary launched in 2021 and has supported 172 creatives to date 

• McLaren Racing has worked with Creative Access since 2021 as part of the team’s flagship DE&I programme, McLaren Racing Engage, which was launched to open pathways into motorsport careers and support talent from under-represented communities. 

Creative Access’ CEO, Mel Rodrigues, has been featured in HR Magazine’s ‘Lessons from the C-Suite’ discussing her career path, inspirations, and what HR professionals need to enter the C-suite.

Read ‘Lessons from the C-suite: Mel Rodrigues, Creative Access‘.

Two members of Creative Access staff, and one of Creative Access alumni, have been interviewed by Kuba Shand-Baptiste for her piece in The i Paper on Gen Z’s boundaries and making friends in the workplace.

Read in full.

The David Tebbutt Trust and Creative Access have announced a new internship fund in memory of the late David Tebbutt, Finance Director at Faber from 2002 until his untimely death in September 2011. 

The Fund will provide 100% of the cost of an intern’s training bursary or salary based on the Real Living Wage for a 6-month full-time traineeship once a year for three years. It will also cover all costs relating to the recruitment and training of successful candidates. 

The Fund aims to encourage young people from historically marginalised backgrounds to pursue a career in publishing. This means that successful trainees will identify as being from an under-represented group in the creative industries, including, but not limited to, Black, Asian and ethnically diverse candidates, disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people, and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. 

It will support smaller regional publishers who might otherwise not be able to host a trainee. The internship will be funded by the David Tebbutt Trust, which is jointly administered by Faber and the Tebbutt family.  

Oliver Tebbutt, the late David Tebbutt’s son and David Tebbutt Fund Trustee said:  

“We are very pleased to announce the David Tebbutt Internship. My father was dedicated to publishing and the book trade and was passionate about supporting people from all backgrounds to pursue careers in the sector. I know it would make him extremely happy and I hope it can help people from under-represented communities enter the industry that he loved.” 

Josie Dobrin, Executive Chair of Creative Access, said:  

“We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with the David Tebbutt Trust to create much-needed entry roles in the publishing industry for people from marginalised communities; a Fund which honours David and is fitting to his memory. We are particularly pleased to be funding small to medium-sized organisations where this grant can have more impact and to be focusing on regional companies where there are fewer opportunities to enter the book sector.” 

The process of recruiting candidates for the traineeship will be undertaken by Creative Access. Successful interns will be paid the Real Living Wage and will join the Creative Access Springboard programme, including training, networking and peer support. 

Any organisations wishing to apply can download an application form here. The deadline for applications is 12 noon, Monday 17 February 2025.

At the Creative Access book club, we’ve closed the final chapter on 2024 having turned an incredible 2,941 pages along the way. We’ve welcomed our community of mentees, interns and alumni to eight chatty meetings to cover an incredible range of new fiction and non-fiction by authors from historically under-represented backgrounds. As always, a huge thank you goes to our partners in the publishing industry for providing book copies and, often, a place to talk about them over the year! 

Here’s what we read in 2024: 

• My Friends by Hisham Matar (Penguin Viking) 

• The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro (Bloomsbury Publishing) 

• Manny & the Baby by Varaidzo (Scribe UK) 

• We Were Girls Once by Aiwanose Odafen (Simon & Schuster) 

• Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang (HarperCollins) 

• Mongrel by Hanako Footman (Footnote Press, Bonnier Books) 

• Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain by Aniefiok Ekpoudom (Faber) 

• Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Faber) 

This year we sat down to interview three authors about their new books: Stephen Buoro, Hanako Footman and Aniefiok Ekpoudom (who also happens to be a Creative Access alumnus himself!). We worked with seven different publishers – from independent publishers Faber, Scribe, Bloomsbury Publishing and Bonnier Books to major publishers Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Penguin Random House – to provide 260 copies of books to read who then came to talk about the book as a group. 

“Loved it. The book really made me think about how oral history is collected.” – one reader on Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain by Aniefiok Ekpoudom (pictured above). 

As always, our book picks spanned many genres united by the common theme of being written by authors from marginalised backgrounds. Highlights included finally getting our hands on the hooky and relentless thriller Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang (someone at the event said “this book made me fall in love with reading again”) and diving into the social history of British rap and grime with Aniefiok Ekpoudom with his non-fiction book Where We Come From: Rap, Home & Hope in Modern Britain. 

And a special shoutout to Hanako Footman for filling us in about her Waterstones Debut Prize-nominated Mongrel on a Zoom call in September. The novel shifts between three women Mei, Yuki and Haruka as they navigate life across different countries and generations. “I loved the book!” one book club attendee told us. “The characters were compelling, and the interwoven narratives were so lyrically written that it sometimes felt like reading poetry.” 

Our cosy Q&A Zoom call with author and actor extraordinaire Hanako Footman, discussing her first novel Mongrel.  

The Creative Access book club is possible because of our publishing partners that provide copies and often a space to talk about the book, so a huge shout out to both them and our wonderful community of readers who brought these discussions to life. We’re excited for more page turners in 2025! 

We’re always looking for new book club partners. As well as discussing the book, we can organise a giveaway across our socials and make sure you get plenty of coverage across our community. If you’d like to nominate a title by an author from an historically under-represented community (and you can post out 25-35 copies to attendees) please get in touch at theo@creativeaccess.org.uk.  

The Fund has placed over 50 interns in publishing, theatre and music traineeships 

The Mo Siewcharran Fund has announced its latest four grant awards: immersive theatre company, Punchdrunk Enrichment; theatre publishers and performing arts agents, Nick Hern Books; national poetry charity, Forward Arts Foundation; and Leicester-based arts charity, Soft Touch Arts. 

In its sixth year, the Mo Siewcharran Fund continues to support a breadth of creative organisations in its mission to enable people from Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds to break into publishing, theatre and music.  

The Fund was set up in memory of Nielsen Books’ former Director of Marketing and Communications, Mo Siewcharran by her husband, John Seaton; she was passionate about improving accessibility and representation in publishing and theatre. The Fund is administered by Creative Access – a leading social enterprise specialising in diversity and inclusion. 

Including the latest grant awards, since the Fund started in 2018, it will have supported 52 Black, Asian and ethnically-diverse trainees in publishing, theatre and music across the UK. The grants contribute to the salary of an intern for a six-month traineeship and a full programme of support from Creative Access to ensure the trainee thrives in their new role. 

Its impact can be clearly seen across each sector: two-thirds (63%) of interns supported by the Fund stayed on at their host organisation at the end of their traineeship, whilst 9 out of 10 (89%) trainees continued to work in the same sector.  

On this latest round of recipients, the founder of the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund, John Seaton said: 

“With this round a happy milestone is passed. Since starting in 2018 the Mo Siewcharran Fund has supported over fifty interns. And it is not stopping here! To add to all the previous wonderful participating companies, it is a delight to welcome these four new ones covering, so stylishly as they do, such a broad area of the Arts: theatre, music, theatre publishing and poetry. Bravo to them; my thanks, as ever, to Creative Access for making it all happen.” 

Punchdrunk Enrichment is a charity creating transformational theatre for education, community and family audiences. On being awarded the Fund, Punchdrunk Enrichment’s Artistic Director, Peter Higgin said: 

“Punchdrunk Enrichment is delighted to be part of the Creative Access Programme, supported by the Mo Siewcharran Fund. As we make our home in Brent, we are committed to ensuring that our staff team, stories we tell and audiences are representative of the communities we serve. This opportunity will allow an individual their first steps into an industry, removing barriers and creating visibility. Programmes like this are vital in supporting our organisation and the wider sector.”  

Forward Arts Foundation is a national charity committed to widening poetry’s audience through grassroots campaigns. Head of Programmes, Jay Bhadricha stated: 

“We are extremely excited to get the Mo Siewcharran Fund grant from Creative Access, which will enable us to welcome a Marketing and Communications Assistant to Forward Arts Foundation. This opportunity will help us champion diverse voices in poetry, support emerging talent while fostering inclusive audiences. With the support and training provided, the Trainee will make a significant contribution to Forward and the sector as a whole.” 

Recipient, Nick Hern Books, are the UK’s leading specialist theatre publishers and performing rights agents with over 1,500 plays and theatre books in its catalogue. Matt Applewhite, Managing Director, commented: 

“We are proud and grateful to receive the support of the Mo Siewcharran Fund, and the brilliant Creative Access, to launch an internship scheme at Nick Hern Books. As a publisher of plays and books about theatre, it is particularly fitting and humbling, given Mo’s passion for both theatre and books. We are committed to publishing work that represents the wonderful diversity of the UK – and equally passionate about breaking down barriers for underrepresented groups working in the creative industries. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our first intern in the new year, and excited about the contribution they’ll make as a valued member of our team.” 

Leicester-based Soft Touch Arts has been using creative projects to engage with and transform the lives of young people since 1986. Upon receiving the Fund, Helen Abeles, Co-artistic Director, said: 

“We are delighted to have been offered a grant from the Mo Siewcharran Fund to take on a music intern. This funding will enable us to bring in new talent to support our work with young people whilst fostering the new generation of participatory music leaders.”  

Josie Dobrin OBE, Executive Chair, Creative Access, said: 

“It has been such a joy to work with John on launching and running the Mo Siewcharran Fund. We can be hugely proud of the impact the Fund has already had; with these latest round of grant awards, we will have placed 52 trainees in paid 6 month internships, the length and breadth of the UK – from Edinburgh and Glasgow, to Manchester and Sheffield, to Brighton and Bristol. The vast majority of the interns have gone on to forge successful careers in the creative industries, which represents a fantastic legacy for Mo.”  

The Fund is once again open for other theatre, publishing or music organisations wishing to support internships for those from under-represented communities.  

The deadline for the next round is midday Thursday 26^th June 2025. Those interested in applying should download the application form here: Mo Siewcharran Fund application form

Matilda Battersby has reported that Creative Access has secured sponsorship from publishers, including Penguin Random House, Sage and Profile Books, to support mid-level freelancers from under-represented backgrounds via sponsored places on a year-long creative development programme. Read the article in full.

Creative Access is thrilled to announce that Dean Webster has joined the board of Creative Access. Dean started his Creative Access journey as a trainee for Shine Group back in 2013 and is now Head of Development at Ten66 Television.  

Dean participated in the2023 – 24 Steering Group; a training programme for future charity trustees bringing together a group of 16 individuals from the Creative Access community. This initiative is sponsored by leading media law firm, Simons Muirhead Burton who joined forces with Creative Access to guide and sponsor the programme. Their involvement includes a financial contribution, hosting the meetings at their central London office and providing in-house speakers on legal governance.  

In addition to Dean, two other members of the steering group have secured board roles including film & TV production strategist Osas Esosa, Olsberg SPI, who has joined the board of Shoreditch Town Hall and freelance writer & editor Dushi Horti (formerly HarperCollins) is joining London-based reading charity, Doorstep Library.  

Josie Dobrin, Executive Chair, Creative Access said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Dean to our Board. We know his commitment, energy and experience will be a huge asset to us. It’s extremely exciting to now have two brilliant and skilled alumni on our board, reflecting the needs of our community as we seek to grow our impact over the coming years, and to create the urgent change required to representation at all levels of the creative industries and culture sector.   

Our community have a huge amount of skills and energy to offer to leadership teams of commercial and not-for-profit organisations.  All too often, job descriptions require applicants to have experience for non-executive roles, so we are thrilled that by having created this leadership pathway, we are removing obstacles for progression and that so many of the group have already secured non-executive roles. We are indebted to Simons Muirhead Burton for their huge and invaluable support of this programme.”  

Commenting on his appointment to the Board, Dean Webster, Head of Development, Ten66 Television said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have been accepted onto the Non-Executive Board of Creative Access, an organisation that has been so integral in my career by opening the door to the television industry and supporting me to thrive in the sector. I’m proud and excited to support Creative Access in this new chapter as they continue to create more opportunities in the creative economy for diverse people.”  

Speaking of their involvement, Peter Weiss, who jointly heads the Corporate, Commercial & Finance team at Simons Muirhead Burton and also sits on the Creative Access advisory board said: “There are many synergies between the work and values of both Creative Access and Simons Muirhead Burton. We are delighted to be able to sponsor this important initiative which will create a pipeline of candidates from communities that are under-represented at non-executive level, who will help organisations to innovate, future-proof decision-making and better reflect the organisations which will benefit from their engagement.”  

In its In Brief segment, Broadcast have highlighted former Creative Access intern and head of development at Ten66’s appointment to the Creative Access board. Read the news in full.

In our latest masterclass we headed down to WME’s offices for a masterclass from three of our talented alumni and former recipients of our Career Development Bursary plus a member of WME’s brand partnerships team…  

Alice Kemp-Habib, Features Editor at The World of Interiors 

Yolanda Lee, Story Consultant & Development Producer  

Ama Ofori-Darko, Head of Development at Park Theatre 

Zayanne Bako, Brand Partnerships Assistant at WME and creative careers content creator 

These creative powerhouses provided insights into their career journeys across theatre, journalism and media, sharing how they use storytelling to shape narratives across platforms and gave advice on everything from handling rejection to freelancing.  

For Zayanne running a creative careers TikTok is intrinsically linked to her full-time gig at WME where she connects influencers with brand opportunties working with the likes of Candice Brathwaite and Uma from Love Island. The two roles lend nicely to each other: both require her to work alongside creatives during the messy and unpredictable journey to creating a finished product. She says, “Brand partnerships is all about building authentic relationships through creators and brands; you’re not just facilitating deals you’re watching them create something that lasts.” 

Development producer Yolanda says that although the ‘thing’ that makes good TV and film is a bit ineffable, she is always looking for a voice, someone with something to say and a unique take on the world. She says it’s vital to stay true to your own perspective in storytelling, “it’s not quantifiable but it’s obvious if someone is doing something just to make money or following trends.” 

Ama originally trained to be an opera singer and after graduating found herself working at the Royal Opera House as an usher. This exposed her to the concept of arts fundraising and development. Theatre is her biggest passion and she had a full circle moment when she went back to work as a fundraising manager at Royal Opera House in 2023. Now Ama freelances with artists and helps weave their stories into fundraising applications.  

Meanwhile, Alice is a former freelance journalist turned luxury magazine editor. Previously she was the one being commissioned, now she’s the one doing the commissioning. She says being a magazine editor means you have to develop a visual literacy because the copy and the imagery has so much synergy; you don’t have that say as a freelancer on the full visual story, but on a magazine team you do.  

As a recent freelancer, Yolanda is honest explaining that whilst it’s not the best time to be a freelancer in TV, she says, “you have to be brave and take calculated risks – I also work for Film Wales, so I wasn’t stepping in without a safety net”. She continues that 8 years into her career, she’s spent time building relationships and checking in on people and now has people approaching me about opportunities rather than the other way round.  

Similarly, Ama says she has made a lot of connections throughout her career so far. She encouraged our audience to reach out to people and not feel embarrassed – people love to talk about what they do! “I’ve spent a lot of time networking and reaching out to people to tell them I enjoy their work and would be up for working with them”. Echoing Yolanda, she said: “It’s really tough right now so I would recommend doing something like having a part-time perm job alongside your freelance gigs.” 

Alice says she was able to live at her family home whilst freelancing and says that whatever you decide – whether you go freelance or stay in permanent work – it’s a deeply personal decision. You have to weigh up your finances, your networks and assess what you need from your career to decide. Depending on your situation, it might not always make sense to go freelance. 

Echoing this, Yolanda emphasised that you can do a job that’s completely unrelated to your creative passion! It doesn’t take away from your creative pursuits.  

On her TikTok channel, Zayanne helps creative discover new creatives. “It’s not for me, so I was confused when I started to get traction from brands; I never viewed how much value the content until people said I found my role through your page and then that made me realise it could be important to monetise it.” She said that whilst monetising your creative side hustle is great, it’s helpful for her to have her permanent role at WME. It means that the money isn’t the ‘main focus’ and she can only promote brands and opportunities that align with her and her audience. 

All of our panellists agreed that they were putting in the work for a while before things finally aligned.  

Although Zayanne is all about providing others with the hottest opportunities on TikTok, she says, “it’s important to create your own opportunities too – it’s hard to find roles. If you have the capacity to create something, then do it”. She explained that she wouldn’t have got her current role at WME if it wasn’t for showcasing her brand partnership skills on her TikTok channel: “You don’t know the value of the work you have sometimes until you go for an opportunity and get it because you’re already doing the work!” 

Yolanda recommends: “Do whatever you can to be an expert in your field until the right door opens… it might not always be the door that you’re expecting”. She told our audience to have everything ready to go for when it, for example, your portfolio and CV for when that moment comes.  

Ama is also an advocate for researching –: “if you know what end goal you want, research! Get books on the topic, speak to people in those roles, send emails to people you admire and want to work with, find out what experience you need to get to get there.” She says, she is always looking at the next step once she’s settled into a role.  

For Alice, mentorship has been essential at every point of her career: “Every significant experience I’ve had has come through a mentor recommending me for an opportunity”. (Find out about our mentoring schemes!) 

Unfortunately, getting a no is going to happen at some point in your creative career. So how can you handle these knockbacks? 

Yolanda gave frank advice to the audience: “Realise that your value doesn’t come from your career”. It’s important not to take it to heart, she says. Rejection can also just be redirection, sometimes you have to take the scenic route! “It’s only when you look back that you realise you were being led down a path that was necessary, that gig might not have been good for you and maybe you dodged a bullet.”

Ama stressed the importance of have a strong network who you can vent to. Zayanne backed this up by saying having a network or mentor can help put language to what sort of jobs/industries you should be applying for. She echoed Yolanda’s point that “you’re more than what you do” and encouraged people to find a way to get feedback so you can use that for your next application.  

First things first, we asked Ama (who writes funding applications for her *literal job*) on her top tips for creatives applying for funding…  

• A lot of the time you really need to align with what the funder wants to fund – make sure you specifically state this 

• Get multiple people to read the applications – does what the funding would mean to you come across? 

• Stick to word counts!  

Our former recipients had some words of wisdom when it came to our Career Development Bursary in particular…  

• Yolanda was travelling a lot for work and living out of suitcases, so she applied for a high-quality suitcase! Her top tip was to give evidence in your application give evidence – ‘you don’t have to apply for the full amount and I had very specific links and evidence on the durability’. 

• Alice was still freelancing at the time and was struggling to progress or get a pay rise. She used the funding for a training course; “it equipped me with tangible editing skills and training looks like you’re taking yourself seriously on your cv”. She also says this is the reason she got her current job.  

• Ama had taken a pay cut during COVID and was living at home. She used the funding to support paying for a deposit to help her move out. Her advice? “Be very clear about why you’re applying, how it aligns with career goals, and get someone else to look over it to see it makes sense” 

Apply for the Bursary by 4^th November!

We learnt so much from these absolute creative industry superstars! Don’t miss out on our next event and register with our opportunities board here.