Hollywood star Idris Elba’s foundation has joined forces with The Prince’s Trust to support young people who want to get into creative careers.
The new project, titled Creative Futures – which launched in Manchester on Wednesday, will provide free courses over the year which help build the skills and confidence needed to find a job, train or start a business in the creative industries.
Luther star Elba was supported by The Prince’s Trust as a teenager and has continued to work closely with the charity during his career.
The 52-year-old, who founded The Elba Hope Foundation with his wife Sabrina, said: “Many of us working in the arts today, myself included, only made it because of programmes like this when we were young.
“Today’s youth deserve at least the same chance, and more. ‘Creative Futures’ exists to give the same hope, support and success I’ve found to the next generation.”
He continued: “Sabrina and I co-founded The Elba Hope Foundation to help every young person fulfil their potential, the Creative Futures programme will do just that, with courses in industries I know and love.
“We’ll help young people develop skills, confidence and aspirations for the future.”
The range of free courses, delivered by The Prince’s Trust, will support young people who are not in work, education or training, to find out more about careers and jobs in the creative industries, such as music, theatre, or the arts.
The first courses for young people to take part in are Get Started with DJing and an Enterprise course focusing on developing creative businesses.
The programmes open for applications from Wednesday and the DJing course will take place next month.
