Meet Dave Fretton

David Fretton works closely alongside the Creative Foundation and its mentorship programme. He works as an enterprise coordinator for the Careers and Enterprise company, who are responsible as the national body contracted to the Department of Education for supporting the growth of education within schools and colleges nationwide. In Kent, his department have partnered with The Education People, who work to support the schools and colleges across the county in developing innovative careers programmes for the youth.

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There are many working in education and research who have specifically identified that problem-solving, especially creative problem-solving, requires a comprehensive ability in humanities and subjects within the arts. The issues that will be part of the future workforce are always unknown, but with the acceleration of next-generation technologies such as AI, there are already new challenges and opportunities that every organisation will be dealing with very soon, if they are not already doing so.

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Dave’s outreach work has been key in enabling The Creative Foundation to access multiple educational institutions, spreading the awareness of the creative opportunities that are available in the area. Their combined goal is to bring as many students and young people as possible down to the Careers Fair at the UK Creative Festival: 

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“Young people are encouraged to access the festival in groups from their host school and college. We work directly with the relevant departments and heads of year to support students who are inspired to take part and enjoy the festival. We have young people attending from Year 10, right the way through to Year 13.” - Dave Fretton

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This work is being done to allow as many people as possible the chance to learn more about the opportunities that are available to young people living in the Thanet region, as well as across the wider region of Kent. Jeremy Green, founder of the UK Creative Festival, believes that creating a bustling creative economy in the area is something that is fully in the realm of possibility:

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“I want the whole of Thanet to be alive with creativity. From the Festival of Sound to the Ramsgate Film Festival, to Art Festivals. I would love for this to be a place of inspiration and cross-pollination across creative industries.”

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The long-term goal for the festival is to be bigger and nationwide, with multiple Careers Fairs all over Britain being set-up for people looking to get involved in the creative sector. His fundamental belief is that for the future of UK creativity to remain best in class, it needs to involve everyone. This means taking the wide range of diversity that the whole country offers and allowing more avenues from people with different cultural backgrounds, ideas and personal experiences. 

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In the UK, the creative sector has consistently outperformed the wider economy over the last decade, growing at a rate 1.5 times faster, contributing £108bn in gross value added (GVA) annually. Employment has also experienced a fivefold growth compared to the rest of the economy since 2011* In a growing creative economy that is also suffering from growing marginalisation, it is imperative that businesses understand the barriers within the creative industries that are stopping certain individuals who are actively seeking access from being recognised.

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* This data was taken from an internal report produced by Duet London.