We had around over 50 representatives from the arts and creative sector in attendance at the Town Hall on the 19 Jan for this event. This included a good mix of organisations, as well as agencies, such as the Arts Council.

LBI officers gave presentations on the opportunities to get involved with: Apprenticeships; the possibility of a Match Funded Placement with the Council; the opportunity to support the ‘Young Apprentice’ scheme with school pupils.

This was followed by informal and lively discussions around the room – grouped around key questions that arose for attendees from the session. There were some really interesting ideas and issues to consider e.g. “how can we get orgs to work together to make most of opps, resources and link up progression routes” + “how do can we contact and recruit the young people you’re trying to reach”, as well as the surfacing of relevant current initiatives/ activities being led by attendees. These discussions and our early responses to these are outlined beneath.

Most importantly these conversations led to momentum! This was the starting of a wider conversation which the sector are now engaged with us and LBI in.

If you missed the event but are interested in this area and would like to be on the mailing list for this for further info on this area please email: info@creativeislington.com with ’ Supporting youth employment mailing list’ in title

**The challenge of reaching young people who will benefit most

We talked about the value of linking in/ developing partnerships / share info with existing services that support young people/ where young people are. Schools, Family outreach support, Social Housing providers, Faith institutions were all discussed as part of this.

A central mechanism by which to help support this was discussed – somewhere we can all feed opportunities to and encourage young people we work with to access it.

> We see Creative Islington’s website as a key opportunity to do this: Please take advantage of this resource! (+ we’ll be looking to build its capacity to do this more effectively)

**How can orgs work together to make the most of opportunities and draw down resources

Knowing what each other is doing – opportunities for partnership

There is already some really interesting stuff happening but its linking this up to maximise its effectiveness: in reaching young people, in establishing progression routes

Important to know about opportunities for support, funding in this area

> Again, we encourage members to use www.creativeislington.com including its discussion forum and also to get in touch with myself or with Pete Courtie to let us know your ambitions. Creative Islington can help sign post you to relevant contacts and potential partners – just drop us a line!

**The need to increase understanding of value of working with young people can bring

We talked about the challenge many find of squaring ‘core business’ of their company with working with young people.

That its important to champion the many benefits, not only to young people themselves but your company too. e.g. How young people can play an ambassadorial role; help you reach out to more young people and to inform how you shape you’re work for/ with them.

> LBI are looking to build a menu of options that allow companies to start off offering something small, allowing it to grow from there if it is working well for the company

> We are embarking on collating some great case studies in this area that we can use as an advocacy tool in this area. If you can contribute please get in touch!