This year Blue Serif has taken that initiative to the next level by delivering a creative summer education programme for emerging young talent within the Brentwood borough: with backing and funding from the UK Government and support from local partnerships, The No Collective and Triangle, Creative Cove was born!
Nurturing the next generation of creative talent
The creation of this town centre hub gave young people experience of the creative world. Blue Serif engaged in an outreach project with local schools and colleges to provide creative workshops and talks about the creative industries and ultimately encourage participation in the Creative Cove events.
One such initial participant, Lewis, was passionate about getting the project off the ground:
“I am super excited because this is a great opportunity to get more people interested in the creative world. It will be an amazing experience for people to learn something new or even just to further develop their skills in the arts. It will be super inspirational hearing the stories of various artists and creatives as well!”
As such, over the course of a three month period, the hub had:
- 240+ young people took part.
- More than 50 workshops, talks and events.
- 56 artists and creative professionals delivered the events.
- 67 volunteers took part including Blue Serif’s team!
- A fully inclusive programme for young people of all abilities and neurodiversity.
Providing creative career awareness
Supporting creative talent in and around Essex is a huge part of the Blue Serif culture. The programme provided awareness of the range of creative career opportunities available and enabled young creatives to experience a wide variety of creative paths. The initiative also gave young people the chance to improve their soft skills and become more confident in the process.
Both the educational establishments and partners from Brentwood Borough Council, are keen for the Creative Cove programme to continue.
“Blue Serif’s Creative Cove submission was one of the stand out UK Shared Prosperity grant applications we received,” said Laurie Edmonds, Corporate Manager, Economic Development, Brentwood Borough Council and Rochford District Council.
“They had a clear plan for giving young people in Brentwood cultural opportunities and spotlighting creative skills pathways. Blue Serif’s commitment to community, especially to our younger residents, was evidenced through a unique programme of creative demonstrations, inspirational talks from industry professionals and social sessions that sparked stimulating discussions.
The Blue Serif team itself was an absolute pleasure to work with, always showing through words and actions their aspirations for lifting up our young creatives to greater heights.”

Calum, Junior Designer at Blue Serif: “As a team, we all enjoyed coming together to volunteer at the Cove. We had great fun devising a studio space that looked intriguing and exciting from the outside and enjoyed working alongside the creative practitioners and inspiring attendees at the workshops and events.”
In addition, we have had a Creative Cove success story of our own: one of the young people, Olivia, who carried out a sizeable amount of the marketing and branding has now gone on to become a full time member of the Blue Serif team, showcasing exactly what the scheme was designed to do!
“Having just graduated from University I was grateful for the opportunity to help the Creative Cove become a success under the direction of the Blue Serif team. It gave me the chance to work across a range of disciplines and accelerated my knowledge and skills set.”
Raising creative talent in the future
Blue Serif are now actively seeking ways in which the Creative Cove can continue to support the young people of the county. These currently include:
- Attendance and a workshop at the Brentwood Jobs Fair.
- A creative event at Lighting Up Brentwood, Brentwood’s premier Christmas event.
- The potential for the creation of a podcast.
- The creation of local social creative hubs for young people.
Our Director, Matt, said of the Cove: “Creative Cove has been a real passion project, and one which myself and the team are very proud of. We know from speaking to both young people and their parents that it has made a difference to many a young person’s life, and as a team it has further encouraged us to nurture creative talent, paving the way for a new generation of creatively minded business people.”
“The vision is to also provide opportunities for young people to be involved in a creative role on a community project, and discussions with the council and other creative partners are currently taking place.”
We are excited to see where the future of Creative Cove takes us, as we look to enhance the creative career paths of young people for many years to come. If you’d like to find out more about our work experience programme, feel free to get in touch.