Over the last number of years, time and time again we have seen funding cuts in schools and higher education for the arts and creative industries with Gillian Keegan recently advising further slashes to funding. This is diabolical. As someone who has benefited greatly from the opportunities and training received at High School, College level and now university, seeing this opportunity taken away from the younger generation is extremely distressing.

The government stereotype the creative industry as a job which is impractical, unstable and with low possible income which is completely untrue. The theatre industry adds 2.7 billion pounds to the UK economy annually (West End London)  with arts and culture bringing in 10.8 billion (Art Council England). With cuts to funding to the industry through schools, we see fewer people getting the opportunity to become successful within the industry but also to express themselves through creativity. 

Another benefit to the arts is the mental impression they leave, giving many children, teenagers and adults the chance to express their struggles through movement, digital art forms and speech. It benefits social confidence, public speaking and teamwork, skills which cannot be taught in a maths class. To think these classes and acts of self-expression are deemed unimportant in modern England is extremely damming. This country could not run on the creative arts alone however I cannot see a positive future without them and for many people, it is the chance to be themselves while learning life skills and developing with other people.

The time to act is now, the government are making moves to distinguish our industry and pull the rug from under our feet. Stand with me to defend our industry and allow others to experience the joy of music, the beauty of the freedom of painting and the expression of the stories of the future and past through film and stage. Don’t let them take the future stories away from the youth because the government don’t believe in our industry. Through this petition, I want to showcase the voices that believe in the creative arts as an established industry and its importance in fundamental education within the UK. Let the UK government see how we feel, how we are affected and will be affected.