Access has today launched a new initiative to nurture the North-West’s digital and design talent of the future.
To mark the launch of 10:10, Access is teaming up with Stretford High School, close to the firm’s Old Trafford HQ, to support and cultivate local school children’s design talent, focusing on the digital expertise that Access is renowned for.
Simon Landi, MD of Access said: “It’s vital that the established agencies support Manchester’s future as a creative hub in the UK so as we celebrate our tenth anniversary, we really wanted to try and put something back into finding the future creative stars of the North-West. We felt that 10:10 was a great way to do just that. Manchester is a renowned and booming creative centre and it’s really exciting to be a part of it; this is our way of supporting and fostering local talent at a grassroots level for the good of the industry’s future.”
Stretford High School’s Year 10 pupils are already gaining valuable industry knowledge; their ICT curriculum has seen pupils set up the fictitious creative agency ‘Stretford Graphics’ where they put their learning into the context of real-life client scenarios. Access’ initiative involves partnering the school to take these scenarios one step further and will see Access’ Digital Director Mark Hope delivering key modules, and setting the Year 10 pupils real business tasks.
Access will put pupils to the test later in the year, setting a competition for the first year OCR* students to assess their web design and development skills with a real life creative brief. The winner will receive a work placement within Access’ digital team.
Simon Landi continues: “In addition, we’re also hoping the kids will be able to teach us a thing or two! More and more of our clients want to engage with youth audiences in new, innovative ways. So we hope that our work with these young people will help us gain a greater understanding of how to create campaigns, which interact with this valuable market, whilst also providing us with insights into our current projects.”
Mr Chris Grey, Head of ICT at Stretford High School said: “The creative industries in Manchester offer massive opportunities for our pupils and this is a great way of introducing them to a real-life business context of a cutting-edge design agency. Access proves that the potential is almost endless for future generations looking to enter the creative industries in this area.”
*OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) is a leading UK awarding body, committed to providing qualifications that engage learners of all ages at school, college, in work or through part-time learning programmes to achieve their full potential.
