In addition to my work while freelancing, NextGen Skills Academy hired as a part of their ongoing work with the Mayor of London’s Creative Skills Hub. The hub is designed to support the creative industries in upskilling Londoners into what they consider ‘good work’. During this time, I provided administrative support to Shannice McCalla (Programme Coordinator). In addition to reporting Equality and Diversity data of our operations to the Greater London Authority. I attended several careers fairs and similar events to discuss opportunities provided by the hub. During this time, we ran two introductory short courses into Games, Animation and Visual Effects. These focused on adult education and upskilling people to join the creative industries. I assisted delivering the first course and delivered the second myself. These courses required participants to complete a level one employability skills qualification with a focus on Games, Animation and VFX (GAVFX). We have since run additional employability skills sessions with interns at Blue Zoo and participants on the NextGen INSPIRE Work Placements.

You can read more about the hub here: https://www.nextgenskillsacademy.com/nextgen-digital-creative-skills-hub

In addition to my work with Shannice, I worked with the wider NextGen team to provide support for ongoing projects which included;

Working with Sam Webster (Operations Manager) to support industry challenges and work experience weeks where students (aged 16-18) are given five days to work to a brief by hosting calls with industry professionals and providing feedback to students. Also running standup sessions for student teams and giving insight into the development process. You can view some of the final pieces of work on our recent work experience week with Creative Assembly here: https://www.nextgenskillsacademy.com/creative-assembly-ocean-hack-challenge

Working with Marcia Deakin (Co-founder) to support participants from the Access Rocksteady programme. This was a 12 week initiative supporting 20 people across four disciplines. Art, Audio, Game Design and QA. During this time I managed the community Discord server, provided administrative report and liaised with stakeholders and tutors. My work with Marcia also includes reporting to delivery partners, general administrative duties and facilitating Prince’s Trust workshops. Most recently, we completed an online only version with the additional help of Elizabeth Blackman.

In May of this year I was asked to support Blue Zoo’s Animation Skills Bootcamp, where 9 NextGen students worked on our Remote Industry Studio Experience, gaining first hand experience of the animation pipeline. You can view the incredible final product here: https://www.nextgenskillsacademy.com/post/aspiring-animation-students-gain-hands-on-industry-experience-with-blue-zoo-animation-studio

I attended Develop 2023 on behalf of NextGen to network for further support for our many initiatives creating more diverse and accessible pathways into industry. My time there was successful and I secured several new industry contacts to be involved in NextGen work experience programmes in the future. NextGen are always looking for more people in the Games, Animation and VFX industries to support them. If this is something you may be interested in, you can view more information here: https://www.nextgenskillsacademy.com/volunteer-with-nextgen