Spike Griffiths, director of Beacons Music, spoke to us about the organisation's industry events that happened as part of our Creative Industries Cluster Hubs programme.
“We were approached by Lyndy Cooke from Handheld events, who was part of the CICH Newport and CICH RCT teams. She initiated a conversation to learn more about young creatives, which led to our involvement.
“We held two full day music industry events for young people. These events took place in Coleg Gwent, Crosskeys and Coleg Y Cymoedd, Nantgarw. From them, we gained access to new young people who expressed an interest in pursuing a career in the creative and music sector.
“These events enabled us to speak with young people, who all conveyed how difficult it is for them to find routes into the sector. The locality played a large part in that disconnect, stifling new opportunities for these young people.
“It showed the importance of connectivity; we need to be connecting young people with like-minded individuals or SMEs that could facilitate or help them navigate initial routes into the sector. This needs to happen frequently and consistently. More things like the events we held would be great.”
Watch a video from one of the events here: