Our Pass gives young people chance to reach for the stars with wave of creative careers experiences

THE MAYOR of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has visited Space Studios Manchester (January 15) to launch a new wave of creative career experiences for Our Pass holders.

He was joined by Cameron Roach, Sky’s Director of Drama and Sky Studios, to launch the ‘Sky Drama Intergalactic Scriptwriting Competition’. Intergalactic, billed as an emotionally charged sci-fi series, started filming at Space Studios Manchester in the autumn.

As the new wave of creative careers opportunities are released, Our Pass holders are being invited to write a short television script set on a spaceship. It can be set anytime and anywhere in the galaxy. Winning script writers will receive an on-set tour of the new Sky Original production. They’ll also get to meet some of the key creatives involved in putting together a big budget television drama series.

Young people, for a one-off £10 administration fee, have been able to take advantage of free bus travel across Greater Manchester since the start of September. At the start of January there were over 125 opportunities live on the Our Pass website, helping 16 to 18-year-olds get out and explore Greater Manchester.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Our Pass is designed to show everyone growing up in our city-region that we believe in them. The new opportunities we are releasing each month are giving young people the chance to explore the amazing place we live in and, with competitions like this, go even further.”

Cameron Roach, Sky’s Director of Drama and Sky Studios, said: “We believe that every young person has potential; they just need the opportunities to realise it. We want to help young people build skills and gain experiences that inspire them to be their best, so we’re delighted to be able to get involved and support Our Pass.”

The partnership with Sky, follows on from a new ‘Careers with Corrie’ opportunity announced by the Mayor last month. ITV's Coronation Street is giving 10 young people the chance for a very special VIP visit to ‘the cobbles’. Not only will they get the chance to look around every corner of the nation's favourite street, they’ll also meet some of the people who make the programme and find out just what it's like to work on a show which sells to 196 territories across the world.

Our Pass holders are also being given the chance to find out what ‘A day in the life of a Music Manager’ is like. ThisisNQ founder Adex manages New Moston rapper Aitch, YouTube Music's new ‘Artist On The Rise’. He’ll be giving a talk to Our Pass holders at Manchester’s Central Library this Spring.

Further creative careers opportunities will be announced in the next few weeks. For information on all live opportunities, including deadlines to apply, visit ourpass.co.uk

About Our Pass:

1. Young people, for a one-off £10 administration fee, have been able to take advantage of free bus travel across Greater Manchester since the start of September. Over 37,000 glossy purple cards have so far been issued, with holders making more than 4.2 million bus journeys since Our Pass launched.

On average over 250,000 journeys per week are being made by card holders. At the start of January there were over 125 opportunities live on the Our Pass website, helping 16 to 18-year-olds get out and explore Greater Manchester.

2. Young people helped choose the name, design the card and contributed to how they wanted Our Pass to work. At 16, they face decisions that will shape their lives and sometimes lack the skills they need to travel, explore and navigate the world beyond their doorstep. Our Pass is designed to help; as they start college, apprenticeships, jobs and the transition into becoming adults.

The website includes a full list of opportunities young people can start to apply for once they have their pass. Greater Manchester’s JD, the international sports-fashion retail company, has confirmed a sponsorship deal for the two-year pilot.

3. Your life. Your journey. Your pass: Our Pass makes getting to college, into training and into work easier – and it also unlock lots of other benefits too.

Our Pass creates more chances for young people to become confident, active participants in the creative, social and working life of one of the UK’s most dynamic city-regions. Our Pass is working with TripleC to ensure that disability and access needs are considered as part of the Our Pass pilot.

4. It is estimated more than 60,000 young people per year, aged 16-18, could benefit from Our Pass. Young people have come up with the design and name. Thousands have already engaged either on social channels, at events or by completing a survey outlining the type of future opportunities they want.

5. Our Pass could save young people and their families over £500 per year in bus travel, as well as unlocking an exciting range of opportunities provided by Greater Manchester’s private and public sector.

6. Greater Manchester is growing, with the population set to exceed 3 million by 2040. Demand for transport is going up too, but overall bus use is declining. In Greater Manchester there has been a decline of 32.1 million annual passenger journeys by bus in the last ten years. In London bus journeys have almost doubled in the same time period.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has set out his ten-year vision for transport across Greater Manchester, including investing in the city region’s bus network. Our Pass aims to get more people using buses again.

About Sky

7. With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and part of the Comcast group. 31,000 employees help connect their customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gomorrah, Sky Studios was launched, and they plan to more than double their investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years.

Sky also believes that a company of its scale has a responsibility that goes beyond its business, and into the community. Their Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, they are on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, they are investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and are a proud employer – recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.

Article Published: 20/01/2020 09:57 AM