The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a new £1.3m fund to help increase employment and training opportunities in the creative industries for Londoners.
As part of the Mayor’s Creative Enterprise Zones, the fund will support jobs and small businesses by providing skills and training to under-represented groups in the industry in Croydon, Hounslow and Lambeth.
It will particularly help create opportunities for young Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners and women, through work placements, training and mentoring delivered in partnerships in the boroughs. These Londoners are already under-represented in the industry and are likely to have been further disadvantaged by the impact of covid-19.
The fund is designed to help more than 225 Londoners into education, training or employment between April 2021 and June 2023, and a further 120 creative sector employees to improve their career prospects.
The Mayor created his Creative Enterprise Zones programme in 2018 to support artists and creative businesses, and develop skills and jobs for Londoners in distinctive zones across the capital. The zones are providing funding and creating affordable workspace to help innovation and create jobs that will help accelerate the economic recovery.
This new dedicated skills funding will be delivered through the zones in Croydon, which is developing as a music city, Hounslow, which is focusing on television and broadcasting, and Lambeth, which supports creative and digital businesses.
It comprises £650,000 from the European Social Fund, £450,000 from the Mayor’s Creative Enterprise Zones programme and £200,000 from Hounslow and Lambeth.
It’s the latest in a series of work from the Mayor to help the creative industries deal with the impact of covid-19. This includes supporting venues and artists through the £2.3m Culture at Risk Business Support Fund, the London Growth Hub and Pay It Forward London, and lobbying Government for a long-term support package for the culture sector.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Culture and the creative industries are at the heart of our city, and they will play a huge role in our economic and social recovery. That’s why we must do all we can to support jobs and small businesses at this challenging time, and that includes ensuring there are opportunities available to all. Our Creative Enterprise Zones are designed to inspire innovation and nurture talent across the capital, and this funding will help to provide further education, training and employment to develop the next generation of creative leaders.”
Photo by Ross Burgess, Wikimedia commons