The University of Nottingham’s public arts programme, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, has received funding from the Office for Students between 2019-2022 to support diversification and graduate retention in the creative industries sector. 

£293,315 was awarded from the Office for Students’ Challenge Competition fund for a collaborative project to support the delivery of an annual Creative Pathways programme. 

The funding will enable a three-year Creative Pathways programme, with two strands of delivery for students from backgrounds underrepresented in Higher Education. These two strands are paid internships for recent graduates, and the delivery of a ‘Creative Academy’ for undergraduates.

The Creative Academy will provide an introduction to the breadth of careers available in the Creative Industries and will feature talks by inspirational thought-leaders in the creative sector, workshops with visiting creatives, and opportunities to engage with regional cultural sector leaders.

Creative Pathways Graduate Internships will be introduced across seven of the city’s cultural partners — City Arts, Dance4, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Playhouse, Nonsuch, UNESCO City of Literature and Lakeside Arts — with applications opening on 10 June 2019.

The programme and internships begin in early October 2019 – with the first Creative Academy event on 15 October 2019 — and organisers will be working closely with the University’s Widening Participation and Careers & Employability teams to identify eligible students.

Shona Powell, Director of Nottingham Lakeside Arts, said: “We are delighted to receive this new tranche of funding which will enable us to build on our enormously successful track record of operating externally sponsored internships.

“We’ve seen a number of previous Lakeside interns go on to occupy leadership positions and all are clear that their internship was integral to develop vocationally-relevant practical skills and sector-relevant knowledge, helping them to secure permanent positions within the creative industries.

“This generous backing will allow us to upscale our internship programme and to create a collaborative learning community, and encourage new and exciting opportunities to retain graduate talent in our region.”

Students can apply via the Careers and Employability webpages.