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Leading names in creative industries celebrate 10 years of partnership with Creative Access

Posted on January 19, 2022

Creative Access, the leading social enterprise in progressive career development and support, is today celebrating a decade of work within the creative industries, improving career access and progression for over 60,000 people under-represented in the sector in terms of ethnicity, socio-economic background and disability, or facing significant barriers to employment. 

In those 10 years, Creative Access has, in partnership with some of the leading names in the industry, including ITV, BBC, Penguin Random House, National Theatre, White Cube, Aardman and The Guardian, not just changed the face of the creative industries, but the faces within it. Through a unique combination of mentoring, training and a progressive approach to recruitment, it has, alongside its partners and alumni, made the industry more representative, more inclusive and more accessible. 

Over the past 10 years, Creative Access has: 

  • Placed 2,194 individuals in paid internships across the creative sector 
  • Helped ensure over 85% of these are still in the industry today
  • Supported 58,773 candidates with employability skills, career advice, masterclasses, CV clinics and training
  • Enabled 2,261 to participate in mentoring programmes 
  • Delivered 3,319 hours of inclusive employer training
  • Held 142 masterclasses on how to break into and navigate a career within the creative industries 

Julian Bellamy, managing director, ITV Studios says, “As one of the longest standing partners of Creative Access, we’ve seen first-hand the impact of Josie and her team’s dedication to creating opportunities for candidates from communities that are under-represented in television. Be that through supporting us to bring hundreds of new trainees into the group, many of whom are still with us as they progress their careers and take on more senior roles or through the ITV mentoring programme. We’re proud to have given Creative Access a home within the ITV Studios’ offices – there is no doubt that they have been such a positive force within our industry in ensuring true diversity and inclusion for all.”  

“Penguin Random House’s partnership with Creative Access spans 10 fantastic years, with Random House the first ever publisher to join forces with them in 2012. Creative Access’s work to support talented people from groups under-represented in our industry aligns perfectly with our mission to make books for everyone, because a book can change anyone. Achieving that mission starts from within, and they’ve helped us identify the next generation of creative talent to build a more representative organisation, with more than 40 Creative Access alumni now working at our company,” says Tom Weldon, Chief Executive, Penguin Random House. 

Rufus Norris, artistic director, National Theatre says, “Creative Access is a bold and dynamic cornerstone of the creative industries. For the past ten years they have been successfully providing a nurturing pathway for talent from under-represented groups into meaningful careers across the creative industries.  It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome 25 Creative Access trainees to the National Theatre and I look forward to welcoming more trainees in the next ten years and watching them and Creative Access continue to not just thrive but imbed their forward-looking footprints for others to follow.”

The not-for-profit is marking its 10th birthday with a series of special events and activities throughout 2022 with partners, alumni and the wider industry, starting with the launch of a new website and brand ‘look and feel’. The new website has been created to improve access to resources, opportunities, mentoring and training for people from under-represented communities in the creative industries to support career progression. Resources include everything from CV clinics to masterclasses on how to navigate publishing and other creative industries with insider tips from Creative Access alumni who have experienced these challenges first hand. 

“I’m so proud of what Creative Access has achieved in the last decade with our incredible partners and talent community. When we started it was rare to meet someone who wasn’t from a privileged background working in the creative industries. Although we’ve seen great progress in the last ten years, the fact we still use language around ‘under-representation’ shows how far we still have to go. Many people are still facing visible and invisible barriers to accessing and progressing in the industry from financial obstacles to racism, which we continue to work hard to help them overcome,” says Josie Dobrin, founder and CEO, Creative Access. 

“We describe ourselves as a ‘sunset organisation’ and hope that one day when publishing, along with the UK’s broader creative industries, truly reflects our society, we will no longer need to exist.”

Contact:

Bibi Hilton

Director of Communications, Creative Access 

07989 571 978 

bibi@creativeaccess.org.uk

About Creative Access

Creative Access is a leading social enterprise combining an unrivalled network of talent from communities under-represented in the creative economy, with progressive career support and development. Our mission is to enable people from communities that are under-represented to access, progress and reach leadership in publishing, film and TV, music, the arts, theatre and beyond. Since it was founded in 2012, Creative Access has place 2,194 individuals in paid internships; supported 58,773 candidates with employability skills; set up mentoring for 2,261 young people and delivered 3,319 hours of inclusive employer training.