Can you donate £2 (or your equivalent) per month to help someone reach their full potential?
We make this happen through programmes that connect, develop, and empower young people to live out their creative ambitions.
Activist Neil Griffiths and comedian Josie Long first laid the foundations for Arts Emergency in 2011.
Recognising the barriers young people from underrepresented backgrounds face when trying to access the creative and cultural industries, they wanted to start a movement where those who have access can share resources and open doors for those behind them.
Arts Emergency piloted its first mentoring programme in Hackney in 2013 and has since supported over 2000 young people across the UK.
“We believe passionately that those with the most potential are often the least able to pay for education, the least able to pull favours or access helpful networks, to work for free, or find shortcuts into paid creative and cultural work.”
Josie Long, Co-Founder
supported by Arts Emergency right now
provided to support mentoring in 2025
feel part of a creative community through Arts Emergency
Arts Emergency Young Community member, Sarah Curless, met poet, author and BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Dean Atta, to find out how he approaches his creative projects and why authenticity lies at the heart of everything he does.
Do you want to support Arts Emergency and independent creatives? Check out our list of thoughtful and interesting gifts!
Arts Emergency has unveiled a bold new chapter in its leadership, appointing Lucy Newton as co-CEO alongside founder Neil Griffiths.