This November Discover! Creative Careers will be kicking off a month-long programme of inspiring creative industry encounters for young people aged 11-18 in the first ever Discover! Creative Careers Month, extended this year from its usual week, as part of a range of developments across the initiative.
By encouraging employers to open their doors and showcase real job roles and career pathways through interactive activities, Discover! Month aims to ensure the next generation of creative industry employees comes from the broadest range of backgrounds.
The free to access hybrid programme of activities and resources offers meaningful encounters with industry professionals, online tools, training, and support throughout the year. The programme is delivered by ScreenSkills in partnership with over 25 representatives from across the creative industries and is funded by the Department for Culture, Media ad Sport (DCMS).
This year ScreenSkills has received increase support to expand the programme across Wales and Scotland (via Into Film) and has a brand-new work experience programme for 14-16 year olds, plus a pilot initiative with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to identify entry-level roles linked to the Sector Based Work Academy programme (SWAPs).
The start of Discover! Creative Careers Month also sees the launch of a major communications campaign led by DCMS in collaboration with ScreenSkills and Creative UK, that aims to demystify jobs in the creative industries. Watch this space!
With Discover! Month running until the end of November, it’s not too late to take part and help inspire a young person at the start of their career. Register your interest and submit your event via the Discover website.
Here are some highlights from the Discover! Team on activities they’re particularly looking forward to:
Staff highlights
Mary Rose, Discover Creative Careers Programme Lead
I’ll be joining young people at Framescape in Stoke-on-Trent as they learn the basics of 2D Animation and see their drawings come to life in a hands-on session. They will get to explore the full workflow from sketching to first frame, to creating smooth movement and looping animations. Framescape is a non-profit community project spearheaded by our partners at Carse & Waterman Animation and is committed to levelling the playing field by educating and inspiring its local community to develop their creative, digital and technical skills. By doing so, it plans to enable the city’s createch community to employ more local talent!
Yasin Ali, Discover Creative Careers Programme Assistant
I’m thrilled to be attending the ITV Academy – Access All Areas event as part of Discover Creative Careers Month. This two-day, behind-the-scenes experience at ITV MediaCityUK offers an exciting opportunity to explore the studios, offices, and creative teams that bring television to life. Attending alongside our partnership youth ambassadors adds even more value, as it allows them to network, gain industry insight, and be inspired by the diverse range of careers in TV. They'll be eager to learn from professionals, experience the fast-paced world of production first-hand, and use this opportunity to help guide and motivate them towards a creative career pathway.
Lucy Hamilton, Discover Creative Careers Communications Assistant
I’m looking forward to visiting Real Ideas in Plymouth where students will learn more about immersive technologies in their ‘state-of-the-art’ 360 dome. I think this is an amazing opportunity for young people to see how creativity and technology come together to tell stories and create new experiences whilst exploring the different career paths available to them in the rapidly evolving creative and digital technology subsector.
Margaret Burgin, ScreenSkills Head of Careers
I’m particularly excited to be joining groups of young people on visits to the Waterloo Road set in Trafford in Greater Manchester where the series moved in 2023. Further back in my career, I managed a BBC project where schools made their own mini episodes of the drama when it was based in Rochdale. It has since been to Scotland and back and is now made by Rope Ladder Fiction. So I am delighted to re-acquaint myself with the series and watch another generation of children find about all the varied job roles involved in making a continuing drama series.
Grace Richardson, Discover Creative Careers Programme Administrator
I’m really looking forward to visiting Peanut and Crumb in Brighton, who are hosting a full day workshop with BBC Radio 3. It will be a great opportunity for students to explore the world of music broadcasting in a hands-on way. The chance to be mentored and pitch ideas to BBC Radio 3 at the end is huge! I think students will come away feeling inspired, confident, and maybe even see a future for themselves in radio. I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Rachel Shaw, Discover Creative Careers Communications Manager
I was excited to see journalist and North East champion Charlie Charlton offering to take young people on a tour of the city-centre Innovation District of Newcastle Helix. She has taken a fresh approach to Discover! Creative Careers Month by showing how you can use your creative talent to support a range of industries. The focus on telling stories about organisations will allow young people to explore the world of events, podcasts, film-making and social posts. I love to see industry sharing their experiences and opening up creative ideas about how you can be creative for so many types of organisations.
Kay Verdon, Discover Creative Careers Senior Programme Manager
I’m looking forward to heading to the Bristol Old Vic Takeover Day, where 11–13-year-olds get to discover how a theatre really runs. From lighting and stage design to producing and directing, they’ll hear how they got into their roles. I can’t wait to see this young audience light up with new possibilities. At this age, one spark of inspiration can completely transform how you see your future. This event also kicks off the West of England Discover! Creative Careers takeover, with nine venues opening their doors throughout November.
Bonnie Smith, Discover Creative Careers Communications Manager
It’s great to see London-based communications agency Zeno take part for a third year, this time in partnership with the MET Police who will deliver a live anti-knife crime brief. On the day the young people will work with various Zeno employees to develop and realise a creative campaign – taking them from idea to delivery and understanding the various processes involved along the way. Zeno are also working with several agencies across England this year who will replicate their successful workshop framework and hopefully inspire more young people.