Applications for 2024 entry are now closed

Ten people of various ages stood together looking at the camera, with a blue screen behind them

The 2023–24 cohort with our Engagement team.

Are you 18-25, living in City of London or Islington and not in education, employment or training? Are you interested in finding out more about creative careers?

This three-week placement between 11–29 Nov will provide paid work experience at London Museum.

The deadline for applications is midnight, Sun 13 Oct 2024.

More details

You can apply if you are:

  • aged 18-25
  • living in City of London or Islington
  • NEET (not in employment, education or training)

There are six positions available.

We're keen to hear about your unique experiences and perspectives. You don't need to have any relevant work experience to apply for this role – just an interest in a creative career or finding out more about working in a museum. 

During the three weeks, a dedicated facilitator and members of London Museum Engagement team will support you to gain new creative skills focussed on producing a group podcast.

You will then design an event to showcase your work to your friends and family. You will also learn from staff across departments at London Museum, to gain insight into the different career paths in a museum, as well as engage with employability training catered for careers in the museum, heritage and wider creative sector.

The three-week placement will take place between Mon–Fri on 11–15 Nov, 18–22 Nov & 25–29 Nov 2024.

The placement will run four hours a day in-person at London Museum, between 10am – 2pm. The total fee you will be paid for the placement is £1200.

Each day there will be multiple breaks and a 45-minute lunch.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided each day and a travel bursary is available.

There will also be an opportunity to present the work you have created during the placement at a special event for your friends and family on Fri 29 Nov.

There will then be a group reflection session and social in December. Date TBC.

If you have any questions or access needs you would like to discuss, please email [email protected]

The placement is designed to cover a key area of skills, training and mentoring each week.

In week one, London Museum Engagement staff will lead a number of sessions introducing you to the ways of working in the Engagement team. You will also meet with staff across the museum to learn about different career paths. You will attend a number of workshops to support you when applying for creative jobs including project management, how to create invoices and creative ways to engage communities in heritage and museums. You will also get a chance to visit our open site, London Museum Docklands

In week two, a trained facilitator will teach the required skills of how to research, write, produce and edit a podcast that you will develop as a group. You will draw on some of the stories and collections in the museum, as well as bringing your own experiences, creativity and knowledge.

In week three, the facilitator and London Museum staff will support you in designing an event for friends, family and museum staff that will take place on Fri 29 Nov to showcase the podcast you have produced.

We hope you will gain a wide variety of skills, and will work to develop these skills in line with your needs. In previous projects, young people have worked on confidence building, public speaking and developing communication and teamwork skills. They have also developed skills in using software such as Slack and Canva.

This year, you'll learn the skills of interviewing, audio recording, podcasting and planning and delivering an event.

Those who complete the Next Gen Creatives programme will have the opportunity to apply for a paid early-career opportunity in the form of a traineeship or apprenticeship in the Engagement team, which will begin in 2025 and run for one year.

One-to-one online calls

We're hosting one-to-one online calls on Mon 30 Sep, Mon 7 Oct and Wed 9 Oct if you're interested and want to find out more, would like to meet members of the project team, or need additional support in applying.

To book a place, please email [email protected] and let us know of any access needs that we should be aware of.

One-to-one in-person at Islington Job Centres

If you're accessing services at any job centre in Islington, we're running one-to-one support sessions. Please discuss with your work coach to book a slot.

If you're successful in being shortlisted, we'll invite you to an informal interview that won’t take longer than 30 minutes, to hear more about you and your creative interests. This will take place online on either Mon 21 or Tue 22 Oct. We'll be in touch w/c 14 Oct to organise this with you. 

Tip for applying: We want to about your creative interests and how the placement might benefit you, so aim to give us as much detail as possible within the word limit. If you would prefer to send the answers to us in a different format, you can send us a voice file or video submission by emailing [email protected]

The deadline for submissions is midnight, Sun 13 Oct.

Application form

Applications have now closed.

2023-24 projects & participants

In February 2024, we launched Next Gen Creatives to support young people living in the City of London or Islington in getting skills, training and experience to help them get paid work in the museum and creative sector.

Working with Islington Council, local job centres, and our creative partner, Fortune Favours Productions, we invited six young Londoners aged 18–24 years old to join us for a two-week paid work placement finishing in a showcase of their work at our annual community celebration event.

The Next Gen Creatives took part in skills training workshops that included film, photography and planning for creative projects. They also met with staff from various departments across the museum and visited our sites in Smithfield and Docklands.

Inspired by their time on the programme, the Creatives each designed, planned and delivered their own individual projects with a creative visual outcome.

Angie

Angie’s project, There’s no place like home, began with a stack of newspapers from her home county, Yorkshire. She was interested in exploring her heritage – having been born in Yorkshire but now living in London – through the lens of working-class history and protest.

Angie already had a keen interest in war poetry and so created her own poem inspired by her lived experience and research into the miners' strikes in Yorkshire and poll tax riots in London. She performed her poem at our annual community celebration to 150 people.      

A blonde woman holding a child in front of displayed newspapers

Angie and her son with her poem inspired by the miners' strikes and poll tax riots.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn had already been experimenting with printing before joining us as a Next Gen Creative and wanted to use this time to develop his business further and too start building his brand.

Brooklyn met with our Head of Design to brainstorm brand names and logos, landing on New World. Brooklyn then developed his brand and logo to create a new line of printed t-shirts and tracksuits.  

Brooklyn with his New World t-shirts and tracksuits.

George

George is a creative who has studied art and design and likes drawing and sculpture. He is passionate about history and architecture because of his travels seeing different cultures and buildings around the world.

After a visit to the new London Museum and seeing the view over Smithfield, George was interested in comparing London’s past and present architectural skyline.

George used colour and shading to show how London buildings and skyline had changed over time, with a series of drawings Eye of Ages: A time comparison of London.

A group of six young people wearing high-vis jackets and protection helmets on a rooftop in London.

Next Gen Creatives on the roof of the new London Museum site in Smithfield.

Hassan

Hassan is an art and fashion enthusiast with a background in photography and design, who was also the recipient of the Camden Young Creatives Award. 

Hassan was inspired by the new London Museum and wanted to create a space that was intimate but enabled visitors to feel a sense of connection. This led him to a concept of a listening booth where visitors could hear recordings of Londoners.

Hhe conducted interviews with Londoners about their experiences of the city, then edited and produced a film which screened at the community celebration.

A man and woman speaking at an event, with a busy crowd behind them.

Hassan at the community celebration event.

Nailah

Nailah has a drive to promote societal and technological advancements, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering and sustainable transformation. She was a leading member of her school’s award-winning debate team and is passionate about public speaking.  

Nailah took the opportunity to learn some new creative art skills during her project and experimented with crafting and paper mache to create her final piece. Mind The Gap was a visual representation of contrasting perceptions of London.

In a city where 1 in 50 people are homeless and 25% of the population live in poverty, Nailah’s display aimed to show London's inequality.

Nailah at the community celebration event with her Mind the Gap project.

Sonia

Sonia is from Ukraine and has a BA in film. She also worked as a set runner in Kyiv, but had to leave because of the war. She is now in London and despite her circumstances, wants to continue being creative and doing what she loves. 

Sonia was interested in documenting where people hang out in London. She was fascinated by chicken shops and wanted to explore the interactions that took place there.

Sonia took the opportunity to learn new film photography skills and worked with a film camera to capture some of these moments. Finally, she selected these images to create her own zine.

Two women talking at an event with one woman holding a book with a burger and chips on the front.

Sonia at the community celebration event, discussing her zine project.

Next Gen Creatives is supported by a grant from the City of London’s CIL Neighbourhood Fund and Arts Council England.

Supported by

Arts Council England