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Creative Futures Business Incubator

Free support available for young people with a creative business idea - including social enterprises and CICs

Are you aged 18-25 and have an idea for a creative business?

This programme offers you the chance to work with UAL experts, as well as a diverse range of guest speakers and trainers to help nurture, test and launch your ideas during a free 5-month creative incubator.

Based at Camberwell College of Arts in Southwark, the Creative Futures programme is looking for people with a social purpose, commitment to sustainability and ideas that have the potential to grow.

Although targeted at businesses, this could very easily include CICs, social enterprises and charitable companies.

What is involved?

Creative Futures will run from September 2022 – January 2023.

By taking part, you will get support to develop your ideas and creative practice into a business.

They have specialist trainers from diverse backgrounds and creative disciplines who will lead modules across a range of areas including:

  • ideation
  • business planning
  • branding
  • finances
  • pitching

You can also apply to work with an enterprise mentor within your creative sector.

You might have a creative idea addressing social justice, climate and environment or exploring innovative new digital solutions. You could be thinking about launching a gallery space, setting up a design practice, fashion brand, recording studio, theatre company, magazine, or film festival. Or you might be an artist, designer or maker looking to turn your practice into a career.

Creative Futures has worked with over 20 local businesses to date, and you’ll become part of our wider network of creative entrepreneurs and graduate enterprises at UAL.

What you’ll get

You will be provided with resources, guidance, and a peer network over 5-months.

Once enrolled, you can access over 30 hours of adaptive support, including:

  • Workshops
  • Expert guest talks
  • Sector-specialist enterprise mentoring
  • Self-directed tasks, online resources, and toolkits
  • Founder club socials and networking

Dates

Sessions will take place between September 2022 and January 2023 and will be a mix of:

  • monthly Saturday sessions at Camberwell College of Arts from 10am to 4pm
  • regular online webinars on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6pm to 9pm.

The programme will end with a Demo Day on 31 January 2023, where you will have the opportunity to pitch to a live audience for feedback

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for Creative Futures:

  • You must live in, or work from, one of the south London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark or Wandsworth (you will need to provide your postcode to evidence that you are eligible)
  • be aged 18 to 25 when you start
  • be able to commit to a minimum of 20 hours

Selection criteria

You should:

  • Have a business idea within the creative and digital industries. This could be advertising and marketing, architecture, crafts, design (product, graphic, interior), digital media and gaming, fashion, film, TV and radio, museums, galleries and libraries, music, performing arts, publishing and literature, visual arts and photography
  • have a sense of direction and goals that you want to achieve during the programme
  • be committed to actively develop your business between sessions
  • have the ambition to create social impact and/or embed sustainability within your work
  • be willing to actively engage in creating a supportive community
  • be open to reflection and evaluation activities.

How to apply

For an application form contact creativefutures@arts.ac.uk.

Application deadline:

9am Monday 12 September 2022

If your application is selected, you may be invited for an informal interview on either 19 or 20 September.

Get help with your application

Upcoming events

Creative Futures Introduction webinars on 30 August and 5 September.


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