Saatchi & Saatchi London opens nationwide schools creativity programme

Saatchi & Saatchi London has created a free national school’s scheme offering young people an opportunity to explore a career in the marketing industry.

Aimed specifically at people from underprivileged backgrounds, the ‘Upriser’ programme intends to entice those aged between 11 to 18 into considering a career in the creative industries.

A 70-page open-source playbook will provide information on how creativity can be used in non-arts school subjects and will also highlight that ‘the creative industry is a legitimate career path for all students’.

The agency has pledged to match any creative business that wants to help with partner schools from across the UK in a bid to establish a long-term initiative that offers young people the option of working in marketing.

The news comes days after Snapchat and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) launched a competition for young people taking part in the industry’s nationwide careers open day Advertising Unlocked.

“Any progressive company knows that its talent pipeline is imperative. As such we’ve used the creativity, ambition and intelligence we apply to our own briefs to what is a systemic challenge of entry-level creativity,” Saatchi & Saatchi London managing director, Sarah Jenkins, said.

According to the UK Labour Party, schools in England are facing a ‘creativity crisis’ with the number of creative arts students and teachers decreasing by almost a fifth in some subjects after ‘a decade of underinvestment’.

Saatchi & Saatchi London chief executive, Chris Kay, added: “Creativity is the lifeblood of a thriving economy and culture of a country. The UK’s creative industries are vital to our economy; we employ over two million people and bring in over £100bn every year. But, starved of funding and resources, the quality, contribution and influence of British creativity are under threat.”