On Thursday 9th May, Positive Steps, in collaboration with Create Rochdale and Rochdale Council, held the Creativity in Careers Event for Year 9 students across Rochdale. The aim of the event was to highlight and promote the wide range of creative careers available to the young people, and the significant part they play in the local community and national economy. The event aim was to encourage more young people to choose creative subjects at GCE and pursue more creative careers.
The event comprised of 60 Creative professionals, from a range of industries such as Animation, Architecture, Music & Performing Arts, Film, Photography, Marketing, Design and many more! The event was a success with 8 schools and around 700 students attending!
Most of the creative professionals who attended the event either currently work in Rochdale or grew up there, such as, award-winning Executive Producer and Animator Peter Saunders, who has collaborated with Tim Burton on the film The Corpse Bride.
Not only did we have creative professionals at the event, but also educational providers, so that students could find out more information on pathways and any qualifications they would need. We wanted to showcase a range of qualifications available to young people, such as T-levels, Apprenticeships and Degrees. We had exhibitors from local colleges such as Hopwood Hall and Rochdale Sixth Form, as well as the BBC who spoke about their apprenticeship offers.
There were incredible live performances from some of the creative professionals. Local musician Micah Stalgic was a hit with the students after his rap performance, and the students were in awe of the dance performance by Move Mcr!
Our special guest was the Mayor of Rochdale, Mike Holly, he joined us at the event, and he was able to see the students engaging with creative professionals. Both the Mayor and Mayoress who was also present, commended the event and said “We are glad to have attended and we have learnt more about the creative industries and the creative professionals behind it, glad this event happened for the young people of Rochdale”
It was a pleasure to be involved in hosting the event and we hope to have inspired the young people of Rochdale to pursue more creative careers and choose creative subjects for their GCSE’s!
It was a pleasure to be involved in hosting the event and we hope to have inspired the young people of Rochdale to pursue more creative careers and choose creative subjects for their GCSE’s!
This event was funded by the Cultural Development Fund ( a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) fund administered by the Arts Council) and supported by Rochdale Borough Council and the Rochdale Development Agency.
