Creative YOUCreativity is everywhere. Opportunity is not. We are part of the solution. The secret is in our name. Every year Creative Youth Network gives thousands of young people a taste and thirst for the arts and culture and the joy, life-skills and opportunity they bring. But we want more. Creative YOU is our campaign showcasing how we, you and the engaged, emerging and amazing young creatives we support, come together. We want to reveal how, together, we are ambition, quality, cultural democracy and social mobility in action. Every young person deserves the right to access creativity and development opportunities in the creative and cultural industries. It all starts with education. If all young people have access to creative subjects in school, then talented young people from all backgrounds can pursue their passion, develop crucial skills needed in so many industries and improve their wellbeing. 1. Pledge Add your name and join the many people passionate about bringing creativity back into our schools. With all the pledges we’ll be reaching out to headteachers in Bristol and the South West. We hope this will encourage local academies to give more space to creativity in their curriculum. Bristol, being the creative city we know and love, can pave the way for other regions to do the same, showcasing the true value of creativity. PLEDGE 2. Sign up Join us by signing up to our newsletter where we share best practice of how to support young people. sign up 3. Find out more Join us by reading and sharing our CreativeYOU report which shows how our work brings opportunities for creative expression and enables young people to explore their talent, regardless of background or circumstance. Download our Creative YOU report About us Blog My Go See Experience - by Grant Thame As we work towards developing The Courts on Bridewell Street into a Creative Enterprise Hub, young people's voices are crucial to making this an inclusive space, where young people from all backgrounds can benefit. Our youth steering group is working hard to ensure the vision for the space is innovative, bold and meets their needs. Going around the UK and visiting organisations and seeing re-developed buildings has made a real difference for the group. Here's Grant's experience: The Courts will be a Creative Enterprise Hub for those aged 16+. I’ll soon be turning 26, so my interest as a steering group member for the project is the older age of the young people bracket. I'm looking more at what can be provided to those who are 23-25 and in a similar situation to myself: not in employment but wanting a job in the creative industries. The steering group is here to suggest ideas, which could potentially be part of The Courts, in what the space can offer and how it looks on the inside. Going out of my comfort zone In the last three weeks, I’ve taken part in two visits to learn from other organisations that have done similar projects. The first one was to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle, which in my experience as being a person that really hasn’t left Bristol much, was a good learning experience for myself. Before the trip I’d never been on a plane, so doing the trip opened my mind to something that I previously would have never done. The timing on being on the steering group couldn't have come at a better time for me personally! The second visit I went on was to Manchester, again being mostly based in Bristol, all four cities I visited opened my mind about how different each city is compared to Bristol. All the places I’ve been with this steering group have been a real eye opener, from the brilliant open space building of Wasps Studios at Briggate in Glasgow, to the character of the old prison at Orkney Street Enterprise, all the way to the community feeling of AWOL Studios in Manchester. All of these places have given me plenty to think about in regards to how The Courts could look like when it is completed. What I've learnt Lessons I’ve learnt from the trips and things I’ll be taken back to the rest of the steering group is how important affordable space to work in and have work be shown in is. Providing space to do this is good. I’ve also been impressed with how the places I went to felt open and that is was ok to be there. It made me realise that not having a welcoming space would affect the work you do in them. Being comfortable and good interior design will affect the mood of the building. The next steps for the steering group is to meet on Thursdays and Fridays fortnightly to create mood boards and talk about what we have seen on the trips. Then we will come up with how The Courts would be used for the next generation of budding creative people in Bristol. Thank you for welcoming us! On the trips I was able to visit the following places and would like to thank them for their time: Glasgow - Briggate - Rookie Oven - Orkney Street Enterprise - SWG3 Edinburgh - Summerhall Newcastle - Live Theatre Manchester - Contact Theatre - AWOL Studios - Royal Exchange Theatre Find out more about the The Courts redevelopment project Manage Cookie Preferences How can we help?