Our plan is to develop a model of social enterprise which can be run by the young people who come through the first year of IOT. They will have been trained in producing and promotions, as well as technical management. They will have assisted us in creating and producing a tour of a new Hip Hop theatre piece called Ten Years from Now, and they will have produced their own Slam Night. They would have recognised their achievements by receiving an Arts Award.

Importantly we would have developed not only their skills as entrepreneurs but also as artists. There is no successful regional initiative for young people aged 13 to 19 to develop their talent, we have therefore created a model of development that could be supported to work region wide. We recognise that the artists of the future must learn how to exploit the product of their talent, as the old Chinese proverb says ‘Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.’

None of this is possible without partners on the ground; in the next year we will develop partnerships with Thurrock Council’s Arts Team, South East Essex College’s Thurrock Learning Campus, Ormiston Park Academy with regards the delivery of the Creative Media Diploma and a number of local arts groups. Along with the work of the Royal Opera House as it delivers Creative Partnerships we recognise that Thurrock will rapidly become a hot bed of creativity and entrepreneurship.