Cultural experiences — acting in a school play, learning a musical instrument, reading or writing a story — can be transformational in the lives of young people. Making sure art and creativity are integrated into the lives of young people should be a priority, not a luxury. But all too often, we find creative subjects being treated as secondary to traditional academia.
We all see that mathematics is crucial for set designers, English is necessary for actors, IT is important for those working in film production.
Yet we struggle to see it the other way around — the necessary communication skills taught in theatre classes, and the music classes that teach children crucial concentration techniques.
Subjects such as music, art, sport or drama help to build confidence and communication skills, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. Employers value these skills, and parents know they help their children to achieve and thrive — both academically and throughout life.
These important encounters with art and culture change us forever. Today, the Labour Party has pledged to harness the potential of our creative industries, both by pumping blood through the veins of our sectors — film, TV, music — and opening up access to creativity in our schools so our children have a better chance at a career in the arts.
I welcome the proposals being put forward by Sir Keir Starmer, and I stand by the pledge to make sure all young people have access to the arts.
This access is what will fuel growth in the creative industries and create good jobs in all four corners of the UK. Because if young people don’t have cultural experiences, if they aren’t encouraged to explore their creativity, they’ll never know that a good job in the creative industries is an option for them. And it should be.
Every child deserves a chance. Talent doesn’t discriminate, but opportunity does. There’s no biological reason why a young person born in the poorest part of the country is any less capable, has any less potential, than those born in the richest parts.
All too often, working-class children are not provided the same access to the arts. The arts have been treated as a luxury, rather than a necessity, for far too long.
Arts and culture of course have intrinsic value — they give us shared experiences and new ways to understand the world. But they also have huge economic value, and creativity and imagination are the raw materials for a sector which contributes £125 billion to the UK economy. We need to make sure we can continue to create and imagine into the future.
I am proud to work in a sector that I love and enjoy, surrounded by likeminded people who were fortunate enough to be given the opportunities needed to flourish and display their talents to the world. But in recent years, jobs in arts and culture have become increasingly elite — only available to those with access to the bank of Mum and Dad, or a place to stay in London. It doesn’t have to be this way.
But in order to help our sector thrive, we need young people from every background, across every region in the UK, to be provided with the opportunities they so desperately needâ¯andâ¯deserve.
