Creative Foundation Charity Launches Action Report Ahead of UKCF

Jul. 12, 2023

Today, industry charity The Creative Foundation launches a new report and discussion paper entitled Consciousness, Courage and Commitment that will frame the agenda for this year’s UK Creative Festival [UKCF] and Careers Fair 2023, and will ensure the future plans for The UK Creative Foundation and UKCF will drive tangible progress and change moving forward. 

Looking at breaking down the barriers to a more diverse and inclusive UK creative industry,  the charity interviewed over 50 respondents from across the UK’s creative sectors, to better understand their perspectives on what the creative industries need to do to definitively break down the barriers to entry and career progression for individuals from communities who are underrepresented in the UK’s creative industries. The aim is to help build more equitable and sustainable career pathways for all aspiring creatives. 

The report outlines tangible action that The Creative Foundation encourages readers and business owners to ‘disseminate it, draw from it, quote it and use it to help facilitate real change and progress in your sphere of influence’. Alongside the report findings is an appendix containing a suggested list of some contacts and organisations who can help businesses within the creative industries make an impact in the area of DEI.

Commenting on the report, the UK Creative Festival and Careers Fair founder Jeremy Green said:

"Don’t leave this in your download file.  We are aware that this report could be seen as yet another research report on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), adding to the already extensive discussions and conversations. This is an Action report, the research is not here to deny industry progress moreover it explores, highlights, and aims to understand why overall progress on DEI is so persistently slow, disjointed, and imbalanced - the net result of which, as the research attests to, places the UK creative industries at risk of losing some of the very best young creative talent the UK has to offer. UKCF believes that words need REAL action for genuine, discernible change to occur. For this reason, we are calling upon the creative industries to join forces and heed the 20 recommendations outlined within the report to drive tangible progress and change. UKCF encourages those from the creative industries reading this report and attending this year’s UK Creative Festival and Careers Fair to stand up, listen, talk, and collaborate. We also wholeheartedly encourage business leaders to engage with the multiplicity of organisations already ‘making waves’ and ‘breaking down the barriers to entry and career development in the UK’. The experience, expertise, and knowledge is vast: invest in them, work with them, make an actionable difference, and authentically help drive transformation across the creative industries."

 

Today, the UK Creative Industries’ biggest and brightest personalities and companies descend upon Margate for two days of inspirational talks, panels, immersive career workshops, and game-changing young talent awards – that connect and inspire young untapped creative talent in Kent and across the UK.

Now in its third year, the UK Creative Festival and Careers Fair is a two-day celebration of creativity, held at the iconic Dreamland in Margate, Kent. The festival is focused on celebrating the very best of the UK’s vibrant creative industries, as well as showcasing the career pathways available for all aspiring young creatives to help bring greater inclusion, diversity, and career opportunities within the creative industries for underrepresented communities in the UK.