Creative, Cultural, Digital and Media Task Group
East Sussex is a growing hub for these sectors, with several clusters across the county. The Task Group meets quarterly to champion employability and skills and coordinate activities and support the strategic priorities of Skills & Employment East Sussex. The group sets a strategic plan annually in September, to drive forward partnership activities.
The Group includes representatives from local employers, these include
- De La Warr Pavilion
- Technative
- Glyndebourne
- Bark Web Ltd
- Chalk Eastbourne/Switchplane
- Spunglass Theatre
There are also representatives from education and training and other stakeholders including:
- East Sussex College Group
- Culture Shift
- University of Brighton
- Sussex Council of Training Providers (SCTP)
- DWP Job centres
The Group is jointly chaired by Kim Byford, Project Director, Talent Accelerator programme (Del La Warr Pavilion) and Sally Staples, Cultural Strategy Manager of East Sussex County Council.
Co-Chair Kim Byford, Project Director, Talent Accelerator (De La Warr Pavilion)
I am part of the task group as I think it is essential to bring together people from industry, education, support services and county council to support our thriving creative and cultural industries now and into the future.
Co-Chair Sally Staples, Cultural Strategy Manager East Sussex County Council
The cultural sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK economy. The skills agenda is a complex one and through my role as Co-Chair I value the opportunity to bring together the work of Culture East Sussex (the cultural sectoral group of Team East Sussex) and the amazing work of Skills East Sussex
2025/26 Strategic Plan activities
| Partnership activities | |
|---|---|
| 1. Raise the profile of the sector | Utilising national bodies - use and share their resources, access support and expertise (e.g. DCMS, Arts Council England). |
| Deliver a joint job pathway filming project with Talent Accelerator / Coastal programme focussing on showcasing roles and pathways within different creative and cultural settings. | |
| Deliver Year 2 of the Digital Future programme, a digital school competition with industry mentor support and Transform dedicated support. | |
| Utilise National days as profile raining opportunity e.g. Creative Careers month | |
| Promote Apprenticeship Roadshow and Graduation to the sector, as well as other careers | |
| Support the delivery and development of the Charlestone project | |
| 2. Help industry to engage with education | Look at mechanisms to accredit enrichment opportunities |
| Increase employer engagement with employment and skills teams activities, including the task group | |
| Utilise Hasting's involvement with the International Film Festival to raise the profile of skills and training for the sector | |
| Develop pilot open doors programme by using larger venues to host freelancers/self-employed as an open door or careers activity event | |
| Use Modern Work Experience as a mechanism to promote a range of engagement opportunities to the sector | |
| Look at introducing a pilot after school club, building on the success of other task groups | |
| 3. Curriculum and training programmes | Support delivery of Skills Bootcamp programme, particularly those related to the sector, providing knowledge, opportunities and support. Utilising the network to promote the programme. |
| Understand entry points to the sector and identifying gaps or challenges that need addressing | |
| Look at provision to support people in becoming a freelancer/self-employed | |
| Artswork Breakthrough Traineeships | |
| Utilise VR and Immersive Technology to support learning, skills and training opportunities | |
|
4. Widening the net of recruitment |
Support delivery of the Connect to Work programme by providing opportunities for those looking to work and promoting to network |
| Utilise the Coastal Catalyst programme as a pilot approach for skills development in the sector | |
| Develop shared work experience programme to address capacity challenges in the sector | |
| Consider opportunities for using digital badges for employers and those who engage in careers/learning provision |
Creative and Digital Task Group meetings
Contact Skills & Employment East Sussex if you are a sector employer, training or education provider and want details. Other than your time, and occasional travel, there are no costs to joining Skills & Employment East Sussex meetings.
The next meeting of the group is on 17 March 2026.
We use an action tracker instead of traditional minutes. The action tracker includes ongoing actions, decisions, the task groups strategic plan, and attendees/apologies.
Creative, Cultural, Digital and Media Task Group Action Tracker [618.8 KB] [xlsx]
If you have difficulties viewing or accessing these documents, or require the information in a different format please contact the Skills & Employment East Sussex Team.
Task Group achievements
- Supported the development of a Tutor Encounters event for the sector building on the successful 2023 construction sector event. Offered careers and subject leads from schools and colleges to upskill so they can gain knowledge on a particular sector to help better advise and inform young people, as well as develop relationships with professionals in the sector.
- Secured £200,000 funding for the Talent Accelerator programme, led by the De La Warr Pavilion. Talent Accelerator is about creating a strategic step-change in creative and digital sector skills, careers and project-based learning. It is developing a more joined-up infrastructure between industry and education. This includes work experience, and a range of employer encounters such as careers workshops, events and assemblies. Further funding has been secured through the Coastal Catalyst project.
- Secured Ingenious funding which enabled Culture Shift project to deliver a project with Bexhill college, as well as taking on a digital marketing apprentice.
- East Sussex Library Service and the County Council's Employment and Skills Team successfully carried out an European Social Fund (ESF) tablet loaning scheme. It helped 40 ESF participants from Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings and Wealden during the pandemic lockdowns. TechResort highlighted need for more donations of hardware to repurpose and loan out.
- Representatives from the task group worked with the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) Digital Skills Partnership. The partnership comprised stakeholders from across the South East to increase awareness and access to digital skills training across the region.
- Introduced job role videos on the Careers East Sussex website, including programmers and software developers, marketing professionals and copywriters and cyber security officers.