Young people in West Yorkshire feel there is a “class ceiling” and “a lack of support and guidance” preventing them from building successful careers in the creative industries. 83% believe that not having industry contacts would hold them back and 65% have been discouraged by their teachers or parents from pursuing careers in the arts.
Together, this beautiful Arts Emergency movement can make a difference! Our 280 Network members already on the ground (backed by a wider community of 15,000) will be that positive 'alternative old boys network' for bright, creative and curious young people in Leeds, Kirklees, Calderdale, Bradford and Wakefield!
Can you fund a place today?
What is the Bursar Club?
The Bursar Club is a small funding circle of generous people and businesses who pledge £1,000 or more annually, providing vital unrestricted income so that we can make bold moves like this expansion. It includes writers, architects, comedians, actors, tv execs, designers, photographers, academics and a whole host of recognisable names including Joe Lycett, Yomi Adegoke, Rob Delaney, Sara Pascoe and Nish Kumar. In committing to fund one young person's place in this community, you'll be standing alongside these generous souls across the creative sector (and beyond).
Can't join the Bursar club?
You can also support us by purchasing a gorgeous limited edition screenprint! Featuring one of our favourite manifesto points this is a brilliant gift or a useful reminder that we are ALL entitled to pursue the life we want - so be fearless.
They're just £40, and only 100 are available - so get yours before they all go!
Want to donate a different amount?
If you don't want a print, and joining the Bursar Club is a bit out of reach for you right now, you can still support brilliant young people in our community by donating whatever you can! Thank you.
Curious about the whys and hows of this new region? Read on...
Why West Yorkshire?
Research we completed in 2024 identified West Yorkshire as our most-needed location to expand into. We use a combination of criteria to determine priority locations:
levels of deprivation
Nearly a third of West Yorkshire residents live in the poorest neighbourhoods, compared to 20% nationally. Bradford is one of the most income deprived local authorities in England, and Kirklees is a Arts Council England Priority Place, as an area of deprivation met with lack of opportunity.
access to underrepresented young people
There are over 100 schools with 30% or higher of students accessing Free School Meals, plus a higher than average number of young people not in education, training, or employment.
industry hotspots
West Yorkshire is a creative county (Nesta 2016 and the PEC 2020), with 9,000 creative businesses.
access to volunteers
There are already 280 Arts Emergency Network members in the region, with scope to grow with 48,000 creative jobs and many universities in the region.
What is the timeline?
Once we've raised the required funds, we’ll get going pretty quickly.
Spring 2025: The first step will be recruiting a local Mentoring Officer to lead our work in the region. Between May and August they'll be building on our established local relationships with schools, colleges, Network members, creative people and organisations.
Autumn 2025: mentee and mentor recruitment, mentor training, references and DBS checks & matching.
2026: The first cohort of 25 mentees will meet their mentors and start their year of mentoring in January 2026.
What groundwork has been done so far?
There are already 280 Arts Emergency Network members across West Yorkshire, and so we hope to have sufficient volunteers to run the programme successfully upon launch.
Our Head of Mentoring, Joe, is building partnerships with local people and organisations this autumn. So far we’ve spoken with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Council, British Library, Bradford City of Culture 2025, East Street Arts, and Bradford Child Friendly City.
We held a roundtable discussion in November that brought together many of these organisations, and others including Opera North, Yorkshire Sculpture International, Transform Festival, Yorkshire Dance, Leeds University.
How much needs to be raised to launch in West Yorkshire?
We need to raise an initial £94,000 to support a launch year in 2025. We’re asking you, our Network, and our closest supporters, to do what you can. The £25,000 raised in this appeal will be an amazing start, and help unlock other income avenues such as grants.
If we don't hit this target, every new Bursar will still fund a place on the national programme, and we will go again next year!
What is Arts Emergency?
Arts Emergency is a community of over 15,000 people who are actively working towards a future where the key issues of opportunity, access, and representation within creative and cultural industries are resolved from within. We’re excited to expand our belt of support to run from Merseyside to West Yorkshire.
We up to ten years of support from 16 year olds until they turn 26. This starts with a mentoring programme to support young people making better informed choices as they take their next steps out of college, and it continues with Young Community programmes to connect thousands of young people together and to our wider Network of creative professionals.
Through this consistent long-term support, the regions in which we work we work see the birth and flourishing of localised creative communities which are connected to, and supported by, thousands of creative and cultural professionals across the UK - making real change within the creative and cultural industries.
Who is the programme for?
We ask young people a series of questions to determine eligibility and prioritise places on our programme. These fall into three main categories: lower socioeconomic background (88% met this category in 2024); being from a minoritised ethnic group (58%); or being disabled or having a special educational need (30%). Over the last 10 years, more than half (54%) of the 1,427 young people we supported have had intersectional needs (i.e. meet more than one eligibility criteria).
