The South West · Autumn 2028
Community Interest Company · Registered in England
Creative Futures South West CIC is a registered Community Interest Company working to connect further education, cultural infrastructure and the creative industries across the South West. Our flagship programme is the first FE creative festival in England.
Our Mission
Creative opportunity should not depend on where a young person lives. We design access into everything we do, so that distance, transport and cost are never the reason a student misses out.
We exist to open doors, not to applaud potential. Our work connects FE students to real industry relationships, genuine career pathways and the kind of encounters that change what young people believe is possible for them.
This organisation was not founded on assumption. It was built through sustained engagement with colleges, cultural organisations and industry across the South West. The demand is documented. The model is tested. The mandate is clear.
Creative Futures South West CIC is led by people who work in this region, understand its colleges and know its cultural sector. This is not a national initiative delivered locally. It is a regional organisation, built from the inside out.
For FE Colleges
Creative Futures South West CIC is asking colleges to help make this happen. The commitment form is the mechanism: it covers written endorsement, a financial contribution toward match funding, and in-kind staff time for local coordination. Colleges that sign now are on record as the colleges that made the first FE creative festival in England possible. The form should have reached you directly. If it has not, you can request it below.
Route One
Complete the college commitment form. Your college is asked to provide a written endorsement for the Arts Council England application, a financial contribution toward match funding (£500 in 2026-27, and £1,000 to £2,000 in 2027-28 depending on size), and in-kind staff time for student nomination and local mobilisation. The form has been sent directly. If you have not received it, contact us to request a copy.
Deadline: 19 June 2026.
Request the formRoute Two
Steering group membership is open to colleges who want to shape this at the level of governance, not just participation. A named representative from your college would contribute to oversight, curation and strategic direction. This includes input on the curriculum framework, satellite locations and the progression model. This is how the festival stays genuinely college-led: not delivered to colleges, but built with them.
Express interestRoute Three
For colleges who want to go further, there are collaborative opportunities available through the CIC. This includes T Level industry placement partnerships across Digital and Creative, giving students structured, meaningful experience within the project itself. We are also building bid partnerships for programmes such as UFI VocTech, with colleges involved as co-applicants rather than recipients. If any of this is of interest, we would like to talk.
Talk to usIndustry Partnership
The South West has a strong creative economy and a large, largely untapped pipeline of young talent coming through further education. Creative Futures South West CIC connects that talent to industry, and connects industry to the region's next generation. Whether you want to build your profile, develop your pipeline or simply back something that matters, there is a place for you here.
Route One
A letter of support from your organisation demonstrates sector confidence in the model and strengthens our Arts Council England funding application. It costs nothing, takes little time, and signals that industry is ready for this.
Write a letterRoute Two
Offer workshops, mentoring, studio visits or placement pathways. Get in front of motivated students before they graduate, build your regional profile and help shape a programme that reflects what the industry actually needs.
Discuss involvementRoute Three
Become a named partner in the first FE creative festival in England. Financial partnership puts your organisation at the centre of a regional movement with long-term visibility, sector credibility and a direct connection to the talent coming through.
Explore sponsorship
The Festival
A structured programme of industry encounters, live briefs, sector panels and progression events for 16 to 19 year olds in creative and digital FE courses. For colleges, it is a credible, curriculum-aligned offer that supports student aspiration and strengthens progression outcomes. For industry, it is direct access to the region's emerging creative talent.
Bristol, Autumn 2028
Industry encounters, live briefs, sector panels and portfolio development in the South West's creative capital.
Nine locations across the region
Bath · Cirencester · Cornwall · Devon · Gloucester · Somerset · Swindon · Weymouth · Wiltshire. The festival travels to where students are.
Free to all FE students
No cost to students or colleges. Geography and finance cannot determine who enters the creative workforce.
The sector has asked for this. The evidence is in place. The organisation exists.
Colleges across the South West told us their students lack access to the kind of industry encounters that change career trajectories. Cultural organisations told us they struggle to reach FE talent in a structured way. Industry told us the pipeline exists but the connection does not. Creative Futures South West CIC was formed to make that connection — and to make it last.
The Directors
Co-Director
Corrina is Head of Department for Digital and Creative at City of Bristol College and founder of The Creative Strategy House, an independent consultancy in creative education and curriculum strategy. She brings over a decade of FE curriculum leadership, a direct understanding of what 16 to 19 students need from industry engagement, and deep connections across the South West college and cultural network.
Co-Director
Anna is Head of Charity Projects and Campaigns at Glastonbury Festival, where she leads on strategic partnerships, charitable programming and large-scale event delivery. She brings extensive experience building the institutional relationships that make ambitious cultural projects possible, and a direct understanding of how the creative industry and festival sectors can open genuine pathways for young people across the South West.
Start a conversation
Whether you are a college wanting to bring students, an industry organisation ready to invest in the region's talent pipeline, or a funder looking to back something that fills a genuine gap: there is a place for you here. We would like to hear from you.