Future Me Update

Following recruitment last autumn, we kicked off the brand new employment programme Future Me in November 2020. We’ve been working with 15 adults with learning disabilities from the north of England who are keen to learn new skills connected to working within the arts.

The aim of Future Me is to enable participants to be able to volunteer, and gain paid employment, within the local arts industry. Like a lot of other things at the moment, Future Me is taking place through Zoom, which is actually working out really well for us. Each week we have a special guest from the arts sector who we interview about their career, and we even get them to share their biggest ever work mistake! We also ask them what the best advice is they’ve ever received and usually find out that everyone’s work journey is different and doesn’t always work out the way they had imagined it would. So far we have spoken to some fabulous people including artistic directors, writers, actors, costume designers and stage managers.

During February and March we’ll be creating new CVs with participants and looking at virtual and real life work experiences with local arts venues and organisations. Keep an eye out for more updates on Mind the Gap’s social media channels.

Future Me is funded thorough the European Social Fund and led by Mind the Gap freelance staff Vicky Ackroyd and Maria Thelwell.

Blog by Maria Thelwell