Sarah Mair Hughes marks a decade with Cultural & Creative Skills this year, topping off the milestone by winning Social Leader of the Year at the Welsh Women’s Awards. Here she shares the steps on her career path.
Over the last decade, Sarah has worked her way up to a senior role in CCSkills. Along the way, she says she has worked with some brilliant people who have steered her skills development and helped her understand the challenges in the sector.
Head of Partnerships for Wales and Nations Lead, CCSkills (now)
I work on projects that bring together employers and the education sector to provide young people with the opportunity to get hands-on experience. Projects like the Welsh National Opera Design Challenge 2023. Developed initially in 2016, it’s now open to all UK colleges as part of an annual programme of live opportunities. It invites learners from any discipline to develop concept sets for opera, helping them understand how skills and knowledge can be applied in a professional setting. I love seeing young people explore creativity and challenge professionals to think differently.
Also, there’s our Cultural Ambition programme. Bringing together a network of leading heritage partners across Wales, it offers young people – often those furthest from any cultural opportunity - access to in-depth skills development in a heritage setting. The trainees not only work towards an NVQ Level 2 Cultural Heritage qualification, but also gain experience of learning at a cultural venue, mentored by staff. Some participants discovered a passion for marketing or for conservation and others for the venues themselves. And for some, it’s been a life changing experience; the beginning of a professional career or entry to further education.
Working with funders, including National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Welsh Government’s Museums, Archives and Libraries Division, as well as experts from our network of delivery partners, is challenging but hugely rewarding.
I feel very lucky to lead such projects, working collaboratively with the sector to co-create programmes that make a tangible difference to young people’s lives. It’s why I’ve stayed at CCSkills for the last decade. CCSkills has been through many transformations during that time, but what drew me to it remains the same – a strong commitment to building a fair and skilled cultural sector.
Wales Manager, CCSkills (2012)
In early 2012, I applied for a manager role at CCSkills. I saw this as an opportunity to bring together my interest in the cultural sector and my knowledge and experience of skills development.
At the time, a new piece of research had just been published highlighting the mismatch between the skills young people were gaining at school or in further education and what was needed for entry-level roles in the workforce. 10 years on, the cultural sector continues to face significant skills and workforce gaps so our work at CCSkills remains essential.
One of my first projects was a series of careers events between venues and schools to open doors into the creative and cultural workplace, revealing many ‘hidden’ roles that would otherwise have continued to go unrecognised. By helping young people understand the variety of opportunities available to them in theatre, live events, museums and other venues, we help start them on a positive pathway of learning, discovery and ultimately rewarding employment.
Skills and Enterprise Manager, Aberystwyth University (2010 – 2012)
Seeking more challenge, I moved into a role identifying skills gaps in the local area and building a programme of creative professional development (CPD) opportunities and work-based learning training projects for local businesses. That involved detailed consultation and research with external stakeholders, working with university departments to develop their CPD offer.
It was during this time that I became aware of, and interested in, the work of Sector Skills Councils. I wanted to find out more about how they operated and supported the needs of organisations and individuals in their sector.
From this I developed a real interest in the process of consultation with employers. I particularly enjoyed seeing patterns in the data emerge, which helped with my understanding of key issues This gave me the confidence to make strong cases for new development, both with colleagues and through applications for funding.
The voice of employers is desperately important to the work we do. We need to hear directly from them the key issues they are facing, especially in today’s challenging environment.
Marketing Officer, Aberystwyth University (2009 – 2010)
Immediately after graduating in Spanish and Drama I began working with young people and skills development. I took a job at the university working with students from all over the world who had come to West Wales to learn English.
The work made me realise how important it is for learners to apply their language skills in informal settings, creating ‘real’ experiences that develop confidence and fluency outside a classroom setting. Not all learning happens in formal education.
Sarah Mair Hughes is Head of Partnerships for Wales and Nations Lead at Cultural & Creative Skills.
https://ccskills.org.uk/
@CCSkills | @hughes_the_news
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