Opening up Creative Pathways for Young People
Art in The Docks is pleased to report the highly successful launch of the Creative Pathways programme. Supported by Arts Council backed Culture Within Newham, and in partnership with students from University of East London, the project signposts and encourages young people in Newham towards careers in the creative economy. For a variety of reasons, the path to this high wage sector of the UK labour market is not a well-trodden one for young people from this area.
“We are really excited by Creative Pathways as a project with the potential to make positive ripple effects across the borough for years to come.”
Since November 2023, the programme has engaged 845 of Newham’s young people between the ages of 12 and 15.
Pupils in secondary schools have had the opportunity to take part in a variety of creative workshops delivered by professional artists, who were supported by university students enrolled on courses related to the creative industries. Workshops have explored a variety of topics, including filmmaking, fine art, set design, fashion, product design, game design and footwear, amongst others.
Key outcomes include the relatable connections that are made when a 12 to 15-year-old school pupil meets their 19 to 22-year-old future self. Seeing the life choices that someone else has made - especially if that person looks and sounds like ourselves – has the potential to be an inspirational moment.
The programme has delivered a bigger, and in many ways unexpected impact: this is the much-increased likelihood for all participants to feel that the world of art and culture is one that is open to them. The value of culturally enriching the lives of young people like this is hard to overestimate.
We asked the pupils what they enjoyed most about their day, here are a few of their responses:
“The environment was very fun and nice and everyone was positive and helpful”
“I got to build on my passion in fashion which is pretty dear to me”
“The part when we had to be creative and independent in making our own designs”
“We witnessed a remarkable transformation in our student’s attitudes towards the creative arts.”
At the outset of the programme, the ‘hoped for outcomes’ were based on little more than suppositions based on discussions with Newham residents, most of them in their early twenties. When asked, many of these young people told us how they would love to have embarked on careers in the creative economy after leaving school but had never really known how to go about it.
One of the key programme objectives was to challenge this, and the experiences of every participant in the Creative Pathways Programme has shown how this can be changed. Through engagement in artist-led activities and the ability to meet with relatable role models, school aged children in this highly diverse but economically deprived borough have become measurably more open to engaging in creative activity and the possibilities that lie ahead.
We started the programme in November 2023. At the exact same time that the Mayor of London was hailing the importance of the creative industries to the capital, and how one in five new jobs was in the creative economy.
“Having made such a positive start, it’s really important that this highly successful pilot project gets the support it needs to expand and continue. Allowing these exciting opportunities to young people in east London opens up pathways into one of London’s fastest growing, high wage, labour markets .”
