“It’s Changed My Life for the Better”: Creative Foundation Mentorship Programme Takeaways

Every now and then in this age of good intentions and performative action, we come across a few who put their money where their mouth is. The Creative Circle has long been a cornerstone of the UK creative community – working to celebrate talent, and give bloody good work the pedestal it so often deserves. 

But for me, it’s the unwavering commitment to our young people that distinguishes it from the rest. 

Last year when we attended the UK Creative Festival - the home of the Creative Circle Awards, we were truly struck by how much time, attention and resources were given to the young people via the careers fair which was hosted by the Creative Foundation. This industry can frequently seem aloof. There are labyrinths of tunnels capable of morphing into mazes and, sadly, some of the entry points are blocked by gatekeepers. But not here. 

Every curious query was quickly engulfed by waves of explanations. High-flyers from all over were present with their buckets of experience, happy to hand out knowledge to anyone who needed it. That’s what it's all about, really.

I was delighted to learn that this theme of ‘mentorship’ continued long after the award trophies had been collected and wins celebrated. Just last month they commemorated the graduation of a group of young mentees from the Creative Foundation Mentorship Programme. The event took place in a London-based digital out-of-home agency, Ocean Outdoor, who donated the use of their space. 

The programme works by taking applicants from mentees who are interested in working alongside an experienced creative industry mentor. Mentors can apply via the Creative Foundation if they are interested in offering a helping hand. Each pair is able to tailor their time together and the focus based upon specific goals or interests. 

Programme co-ordinator Magdalena Salawa explains that the Creative Foundation was created out of passion to help creative young people whose background often makes them invisible to the industry – insufficient funds to pay for their education, lack of connections, few internship opportunities outside London to name but a few. “The Foundation exists to remove the many other barriers that exist and to open doors to creative careers for these young talents,” she says. For fellow co-ordinator, Dave Fretton, he’s excited about being able to help young people at such a pivotal time in their careers, and the breadth of resources that the Foundation is working to create. 

Lessons 

Mentee, Cassidy applied for the programme after hearing about the Creative Foundation through outreach. “Ever since then it’s changed my life for the better. I’ve been introduced to so many new people and things. In not even a year I’ve had such a wonderful experience.”

Prior to the programme, Cassidy says he’s always struggled with workflow. “I’ve found it difficult to create a foundation of creativity. Now, I’m the complete polar opposite. Even though we’ve finished the mentorship, myself and my mentor have agreed that we will stay in touch. I also plan to do some work experience at her company,” he says. “My vision for the future feels a lot brighter than it did when we first started. I was very clueless before, but now it not only seems clearer, but I know what steps to take and direction to go in.” The hope is that most of the pairings will end up just like this one – that the programme will act as a launchpad for enduring relationships and counsel.

Luke applied to the mentorship hoping to find someone who could help him get his foot in the door of the animation industry, but it ended up being much more than that. “I would say I was pretty introverted and confused about what to do next. But now I feel more confident and ready to get things done,” Luke explains. “I think my main takeaway is a feeling of independence and coming into my own adulthood. I also learned a lot about film directing that’ll be useful for when I want to begin pursuing that in life.”

Caitlin is one of the many success stories of how the Creative Circle can be utilised to birth real change for the creative careers of individuals who otherwise might not be exposed to them. Back in 2022 she was looking for free creative events when she stumbled across the UK Creative Festival Careers Fair. “I wasn’t earning that much at the time so I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford to attend normally. But they had a very generous ‘Young Creatives Pass’ where there was no fee to attend over the two days. I got my first introduction to a lot of creative careers – when I was growing up I didn’t know these were accessible or available to me. I jumped straight from that into copywriting and asset design. Now I work as a visual artist and filmmaker.”

But the mentees weren’t the only ones who benefited. For mentors Jules O’Brien from Logitech and Robby Stone from Massive Music, it was a lesson in allowing moments of silence to unfold so as to give the students space to begin to open up and be vocal. “I learned to let the silence exist for a bit. It turned out not to be awkward at all and gave my mentee the space to ask a question she’d been wondering about,” he tells us.

For Sarah Jane May from Ocean Outdoor, the programme actually taught her a thing or two about her own self confidence. “It taught me to be more confident in myself and what I have achieved. Mentoring someone has shown me that I have something to teach. Knowing that you’ve helped someone, even in a small way, is a great feeling.”

That’s one of the funny things about mentorship in all its forms. It helps everyone involved.

As the testimonials poured in this year, it became clear that the programme is about more than just opening doors. It’s about attempting to dismantle the very walls that confine potential.