Next Gen Creatives

Helping young people get the skills and training they need for paid work in the museum and creative sector. 

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.

November 2024 projects

November 2024 saw us working with local job centres and employment coaches to recruit six Londoners aged 18–24 who were not in education, employment or training, to join us for a paid three-week work placement. The outcome? To create, record and present their own podcast.

Week one was all about scene setting and getting to know each other. The Creatives took part in skills training workshops that included project management, working as a freelancer and planning for creative projects. They also met with staff from various departments across the museum and visited our new site in Smithfield.

Five young people in high-vis yellow jackets and hard hats sitting in front of a sign that reads 'London Museum project office'

Some of the the November 2024 cohort, and Amelia, at the New Museum site.

In weeks two and three, the Creatives worked with podcaster, youth facilitator and BBC Radio presenter Amelia Poamz to create, record and edit their own podcasts.

In order to help the young people develop their skills in collaboration, problem solving, negotiation and decision making, the content of the podcast was decided by them and based on shared interests.

Podcast episodes

One group explored the relationship between creativity and mental health in The Creative Mind, while the others opened up conversations around spirituality, beliefs and dreaming, with their podcast Would you believe it?

The group shared their podcasts at a listening party on the last day of the placement. Inspired by their first experience of recording as a group, many of them have plans to go on and create their own podcast, using skills they have learnt on the placement.

What's next?

The 12 alumni will be offered the chance to apply for a traineeship in the London Museum Engagement team, joining us on the journey to open the new London Museum in 2026.

Please note, this opportunity is only open to alumni of the Next Gen Creatives programme. For information on our other early careers opportunities, please visit our early careers page.

2023–24 projects

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.

  • A group of twelve people, including a small child, stand indoors in front of a screen displaying "Celebration 2023." They are casually dressed and looking at the camera.

    The 2023–24 cohort with our Engagement team.

  • A group of six construction workers wearing safety gear, including helmets and high-visibility vests, standing on a rooftop with city buildings and cranes in the background.

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

  • A woman holding a child smiles in front of a large poster titled "There's No Place Like Home," which is displayed on an easel and appears to be a collection of newspaper articles and clippings.

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

  • Two people stand beside a mannequin wearing a black hoodie. One person points to a QR code on a paper held by the mannequin, promoting "newworld.xyz".

    Brooklyn with his New World t-shirts and tracksuits.

  • Two people are conversing at an indoor event. One is holding a drink and the other is eating from a plate. An attendee in the background is looking at a screen display.

    Hassan at the community celebration event.

  • A person with glasses, wearing a dark shirt and red lanyard, interacts with a detailed mechanical model.

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

  • Two women at an event engaged in conversation, one holding a magazine open to a food-related page. People are mingling in the background.

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

Participants

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.      

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

Supported by

Arts Council England

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

More engagement projects