Fourteen people living and working in the Dales or Lakes have shared their stories, to provide inspiration and advice to young people who might pursue careers in the creative industries in these protected landscapes.
A film maker, an actor and a dancer are among those featured in a new website and toolkit called ‘Create Your Future’.
The unique resource is aimed at schools and young people and is part of a co-ordinated effort by local councils and partners to attract ‘diverse, dynamic young people with new ideas’ to live and work in the area. It has been led and delivered by the Great Place: Lakes and Dales (GPLD) programme.
The website – createyourfuture.me.uk – hosts videos of eight young creatives who are making a living in the sector in different ways, while the toolkit contains valuable business tips for setting up and running a creative business in a rural location.
A further six videos feature the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s youngest members of staff, who are doing jobs which might not be immediately obvious as Authority roles, such as tourism support officer and farm conservation adviser.
GPLD business consultant Karen Merrifield said: “Careers teachers may not have had the knowledge to advise young people on job options in the creative industries up to now, but Create Your Future puts that right.
“Opportunities in the creative sector are often self-employed and this is why we have included business tips in our toolkits to help equip young people with commercial skills for running their own enterprises in a professional way.”
Karen and fellow business consultant Jael Williams have worked with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to raise awareness of careers within that organisation. The Authority has its own toolkit section on the Create Your Future website.
Karen and GPLD colleague Jael will now be taking the Create Your Future message out to secondary schools throughout the area in collaboration with the North Yorkshire Business and Enterprise Partnership.
