Over 1,000 Creative Apprentices!

There are over 1,000 apprentices in the creative sector

When Creative Apprenticeships were first launched in 2008, there were few (if any) non-graduate entry routes into this highly competitive sector.

Last year’s National Apprenticeship Week saw Birmingham Hippodrome’s Luke Stubbins become the 500th apprentice in the creative sector; this year, that number now sits at over 1,000.

Working in Partnership

Working with Skills Academy Founder College Leeds City College, and the Skills Academy’s Apprenticeship Training Service, Leeds Grand Theatre has taken on not one but two young people, who will work with them as apprentices – numbers 1,000 and 1,001 in the creative and cultural sector.

Bethany Beal (19) and Grace Dean, (20) will be working as Heritage Learning Apprentices through the Creative Apprenticeship pathway. Their roles will see them interact with school groups, a range of specialist interest societies and the public – helping to guide theatre tours, develop exhibitions, give talks about the theatre’s history and support learning workshops and projects. They’ll get the opportunity to work with departments across the theatre as well as colleagues throughout the cultural sector – including the museums service, the West Yorkshire Archives Service and many more.

Bethany reflects, ‘The apprenticeship I’m doing at The Grand Theatre is amazing – learning on the job is the perfect way for me to advance my career in the creative and cultural sector. It’s exciting to see how my newly-learned skills are helping my team engage different groups of people into theatre and heritage.’

‘Since the beginning of my apprenticeship in November, I have been involved in a number of exciting events at the theatre,’ says Grace Dean. ‘I have shadowed several tours, workshops and projects which have given me an invaluable insight into the heritage of the theatre and the varying ways in which this can be delivered.’

Rachel Moyise, Learning Manager at the Leeds Grand Theatre, said: ‘We are grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for making these apprenticeships possible via the learning programme of the Leeds Grand Theatre restoration scheme; they have enabled us to bring Bethany and Grace on board. Their enthusiasm for learning is contagious and their fresh approach to working in the creative sector is inspiring; we have already implemented a number of their ideas and I look forward to seeing what they’ll come up with next!’

The Skills Academy are also celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2012 with a series of regional partnership events with employers across the country - what's on near you?