FIRST PERSON - Full disclosure - anyone who knows me knows Sarah Mair Hughes is a close friend of mine, and anyone who knows Sarah knows she will hate the attention she’s getting for being blinking brilliant at her job.

As head of partnerships for Wales and nations lead for Creative and Cultural Skills, Sarah celebrated her 10-year anniversary with CCSkills last month, and topped the milestone off by winning Social Leader of the Year at the Welsh Women’s Awards.

Sarah has been reflecting on the past decade and focusing forward on what else remains to be done before we can claim a fair and representative cultural sector.

“It’s amazing to be able to list the achievements of CCSkills,” says Sarah, “not just those delivered in Wales, but across the whole of the UK. All our work is aimed at supporting people to get information, and access to opportunities through our collaborative work with sector partners.”

CCSkills was founded in 2005 as one of the government’s Sector Skills Councils to foster the development of a skilled workforce across the cultural and creative industries. Projects and activities have evolved since then, but its primary purpose - to shape best practice across employment, skills and education for the cultural sector – remains relevant today.

In short, CCSkills’ role as connector, trainer and influencer is needed now as much as it was then, probably more so. The UK’s cultural sector continues to face significant skills and workforce gaps. “Collaboration, alongside innovation and a degree of bravery is what’s needed now,” said Sarah. “The UKs creative talent is world-renowned, and I’m proud to work with people every day who are finding their part in that. We need to focus more on skills though – areas you might not think about like marketing, HR, digital development. These areas are vital for supporting the development of the sector – not only for creativity, but for the continued growth of the sector.”

One of the first things Sarah worked on was a series of careers events between venues and schools to open doors into the creative and cultural workplace, revealing hidden roles.

“By helping young people understand what opportunities lie ahead of them in theatres, live events, museums and other venues, we can start them on a positive pathway of learning, discovery and, we hope, employment.”

This work continues to be a priority, as does the focus on providing and supporting training opportunities, apprenticeships and other forms of work-based skills development.

“We have to turn to the opportunities,” says Sarah, “Present-day CCSkills in a post-Covid world means we’re focusing on recovery: fair access and recruitment being the main drivers. Our sector is being rebuilt in a fairer, more inclusive way and our work is essential in helping organisations to think more about who and how they recruit.”

Sarah has also spent seven years developing the Cultural Ambition programme, a unique collaboration with a network of leading heritage partners across Wales providing young people who are no longer in education or work with in-depth skills development and work experience. Trainees not only work towards an NVQ Level 2 Cultural Heritage qualification, but they also gain experience of learning at a cultural venue, mentoring by staff members and financial support in the form of bursaries.

So, what does the future hold?

“I would like to see us working with more organisations in a multi-level approach, continuing to support through targeted, user-led training, events and information as well as through our bespoke 1:1 guidance. We are moving towards a systemic shift and one we urgently need to build a fairer, more inclusive and more diverse sector enabling people to learn and to thrive.”

Jobs in the cultural and creative industries are valuable and necessary, yet people continue to be unaware of opportunities or put off taking them because of long-standing perceptions around career security and required qualifications. Over the last year, CCSkills has facilitated hundreds of young people into job placements and employment through the government’s Creative Kickstart scheme Whilst that scheme is reaching its conclusion, CCSkills continues to champion these essential, proactive approaches to matching employers with the diverse talent they’re looking for.

“This last decade has been fraught with change and hurdles to overcome, and more change is set to come,” reflects Sarah, “but it’s the creativity of the industry we work for that means it won’t be knocked for too long.”

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