Gov.uk: Membership of new Creative Industries Taskforce announced
// Caroline Norbury // creative industries // UK Government
Wednesday 19th May, 2021. Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP, today joined Kickstart employees and leading figures from across the creative industries, to hear more about the impact of the Kickstart scheme and discuss opportunities to support young people in the creative sector.
Today’s event, hosted by the Creative Industries Federation, included a roundtable discussion between the Minster, officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, and creative industries leaders, to explore how best to support the next generation of creative talent following the pandemic. The session was preceded by a virtual “Meet and Greet”, during which Caroline Norbury MBE, CEO of the Creative Industries Federation, asked Kickstart employees to share their experiences of the scheme, providing vital insight to inform how Kickstart and other similar initiatives can support a greater diversity of creative talent.
Since its launch Kickstart has created over 7,000 jobs in the creative and media sector, with nearly 2,000 new creative jobs for young people. Kickstart participants at today’s event included employees from Leicester’s HQ Recording Studio, Manchester International Festival, Barbican Theatre Plymouth, Bauer Media and social enterprise Creative Alliance.
Mims Davies MP, Minister for Employment, said:
“It was fantastic to join Kickstarters and industry leaders today to hear first-hand how the creative sector is stepping forward and brilliantly backing our Kickstart Scheme – truly creating opportunity for our next generation of workers to progress by helping them develop the key skills to thrive in work and the sector going forward.”
Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said:
“The creative industries will play a vital role as we build back better from the Covid-19 pandemic. It is brilliant how our Kickstart Scheme is creating thousands of creative jobs for young people giving them a fantastic opportunity for a successful future career.”
Caroline Norbury MBE, CEO of the Creative Industries Federation and Creative England, said:
“I was delighted to welcome the Minister of Education and colleagues from DWP and DCMS to today’s event and am very grateful to all of the participants for sharing their experiences and insight with us. It is important that we maximise any opportunities to improve access for young and underrepresented people within the creative industries, especially as these groups are among those worst affected by the impact of the pandemic. Through harnessing direct feedback from young people at the outset of their careers, we can help shape initiatives like Kickstart to ensure they provide the best possible platforms to make our sector more equal and diverse than ever before.”
For further information, please contact Matthew Horne, Press and PR Manager on matthew.horne@creativeindustriesfederation.com / 07874 867947
