The Centre for Young Lives think tank and the iconic London venue and youth charity the Roundhouse today (Thursday 12th February) launch the new Young Creatives Commission – a year‑long national inquiry into how to widen children and young people’s access to arts, culture and the creative industries.
The Commission will develop new solutions to put arts alongside sport as a core pillar of youth engagement and opportunity. It will draw on lessons from sport – including the role of clear pathways, strong local infrastructure, sustained investment and talent development models – to explore how similar approaches could be adapted to widen access, participation and progression in arts and culture. It will also put forward practical pathways into creative education and careers with a focus on boosting opportunities for young people aged 10-to-25, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.
The inquiry brings together a distinguished panel of Commissioners with wide‑ranging experience across arts, culture, sport and industry:
Angela Griffin – Actor and Director
SHERELLE – DJ and Presenter
Daniel Mays – Actor
Jack Rooke – Comedian and Writer
Marcus Davey CBE – Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Roundhouse (Co-Chair)
Alex White – Chief Executive, Premier League Foundation
Ange Pattico – Chief People Officer, Universal Music Group (UK)
Baroness Dinah Caine of Kentish Town CBE – Former Chief Executive and later Chair of Creative Skillset
Baroness Anne Longfield CBE– Founder, Centre for Young Lives (Co-Chair)
Caroline Norbury OBE – Chief Executive, Creative UK
Asher Cottrell, Roundhouse Young Trustee, DJ and youth voice facilitator
The Commission will be led by the Centre for Young Lives think tank and youth charity Roundhouse, the London-based performance space and leading creative centre for young people. As Roundhouse approaches its 20th anniversary, it is celebrating working with more than 100,000 young people through its creative youth programme which offers affordable opportunities across music, performance, broadcasting, film, spoken word, dance and entrepreneurship, and access to professional studios for creatives aged 13–25 from as little as £1 an hour.
Between now and the Commission’s final report in December 2026, its team will gather evidence from across the country, beginning with a call for evidence, to highlight existing success stories, and develop an ambitious programme of recommendations to:
Improve access to arts and creative spaces in local communities
Strengthen the role of the arts in education, wellbeing and youth development
Remove barriers to participation, inclusion and representation
Support non‑formal learning and creative enrichment beyond the classroom
Provide clear proposals to guide policymakers, funders and cultural leaders
The Commission starts from the principle that creativity should be integral to every young person’s life. Participation in the arts can be transformative, helping young people to discover identity and purpose, boosting mental health and wellbeing, and building technical and transferable skills for future employment.
However, access is increasingly unequal. Many state schools have cut back creative subjects such as music, drama and dance, while arts budgets continue to be squeezed. Outside school, grassroots arts and youth organisations have faced two decades of significant funding reductions. As a result, millions of young people – particularly those in areas of high deprivation – are missing out on local creative spaces and opportunities.
The Commission launches at a pivotal moment as the Government rolls out a new national curriculum, an ‘enrichment guarantee’, its national youth strategy, the Youth Guarantee, and Young Futures hubs.
Marcus Davey CBE, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Roundhouse, said: “We see every day the difference that affordable, high-quality creative opportunities can make to young people’s lives. Yet too many young people across the UK are being locked out of the transformative power of creativity.
“Young people are facing a genuine crisis. The Young Creatives Commission is our response – bringing the Roundhouse together with leaders from across the creative sector and beyond to drive meaningful change.”
