Our Creative & Entrepreneurial Pathways programme works with secondary schools to provide young people in Year 9 to Year 10 with core skills and knowledge to build on their creativity and entrepreneurship in a business environment. We decided to speak with Rachel Howsen, a Programmes Coordinator at Blueprint for All, to explore the key issues that our students face.

Our Pathways to Professions funded by Barclays, aims to provide creative solutions urgently for sixth form students of diverse ethnic heritage. With the need for extra support to these students, Barclays has partnered with Blueprint for All to provide 10 specialised workshops across the UK. We spoke to Dawn Morton-Young, the guest speaker at our first session.

The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 transformed our small charity. The support we received from corporates and individuals has enabled us to extrapolate our reach and impact, like never before. But we are not willing to stop now, much more needs to be done to create a fairer society where young people from minority and disadvantaged communities can achieve their potential.

For our last Creative Industries Pathways we were lucky enough to have Jahmale Ukson, the denim master tailor, give us an inspirational talk of his background and also provide worthwhile knowledge on how to build a portfolio.

Our Creative Industries Pathways over the last few months has inspired our participants by giving them a great understanding of the creative landscape around them. Instilling them with confidence we have guided them towards employment opportunities while providing motivation from speakers such as Jahmal Ukson, who finalised our last workshop.

For anyone going out into the working world can be daunting. You have all these skills but you aren’t sure how to apply them or where to start, especially when becoming an accountant and building a client base. We spoke to experienced accountants to get the low down on what they wish they knew when they were first starting out.