New career ladder of opportunity for young people in Plymouth and Exeter
Press Release
PRESS RELEASE: Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery have used their Arts Council funded Major Partner Museum status to create a ladder of opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds to gain experience in the creative sector.
Reach South West is the Major Partner Museum consortia comprising the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. As Major Partner Museums in receipt of funding from the Arts Council they have taken on a leadership role nationally for early career development in the arts and cultural sectors.
The 16 participants in this bespoke Prince’s Trust ‘Get Into Arts, Culture and Heritage’ module came from a diverse range of backgrounds. Supported by Plymouth Culture, the project enabled partners to support diversity and promote inclusion in their own organisation, but also encouraged the young people to engage broadly with the cultural landscape of the city.
Attendance at a ‘Get Hired’ event at Plymouth Museum has already resulted in four young people getting paid employment within the cultural sector, and all participants will continue to be supported for a further six months.
One of the successful roles has included PCMAG’s own Learning Museum Trainee position provided by the British Museum, which is being filled by Joe Woolley, who said
“I’m ecstatic to be given this great opportunity to both improve myself and help the museum to improve also. Museums in this country offer so much to the public and I am glad that I can be part of that”.
Another participant, Jo Correa, has also secured employment with the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.
Jo Correa (second from right) has already secured employment with Plymouth Theatre Royal
The museum sector has recognised that formal interviews and application forms do not always enable young people to demonstrate their suitability for a position, so are not always very inclusive as methods of application. The British Museum’s Learning Museum initiative aims to nurture the next generation of museum workforce and improve sustainability of the sector.
Through getting to know applicants for the Learning Museum via the ‘Get into’ programme, PCMAG has demonstrated a commitment to encouraging applications from a broad section of the local community. This includes those from the LGBT community, young people with disabilities and health conditions (including mental health conditions) and minority ethnic groups.
Raising aspirations, promoting opportunity and supporting those with diverse backgrounds or perceived barriers has been at the core of the project, which has also included ‘gateway’ seminars for emergent creative professionals delivered in venues across the two cities.
Find out more about British Museum Learning Museum and Prince’s Trust Get Into programme.
I have been interested in the progress of the history centre for some time and attended the first consultation group . I would like to see the museum bring artifacts and speakers to community groups around the city. Perhaps a theme of identity may stimulate discussion . Plymouth is quite cosmopolitan , I have lived here since 1983 moving from South Shields when I married my husband .
Perhaps you could include a discussions from the neighbourhood to assess interest in exhibitions , themes and local history which could also include local places of interest for locals and tourists .
Happy to discuss this further
Thanks very much for your feedback. Now the Museum building has closed we are officially ‘On Tour’ and will be out and about across the city and beyond with a number of different events and community projects over the next three and a half years. We have passed your message on to our colleagues who are planning the ‘On Tour’ programme. In the meantime, keep an eye on the what’s on pages of our website for details of all our confirmed activities.