Some young people walking through a forest.

Bringing arts and culture into a new national enrichment programme

Tuesday 29 September 2026

We're joining the Youth Sport Trust as a partner in the government's new £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme, and our job is to make sure arts and culture are part of it from the very beginning.

The programme will support more than 400 secondary schools in communities where young people are most likely to miss out on activities beyond lessons. The aim is simple: more young people finding something they love, whether that's a drama club, a band, a film project, a football team or a debating society.

We're one of the programme's Enrichment System Builders, leading on arts and culture. Schools will be supported by local Enrichment Coordinators, and we'll help them tap into the whole creative landscape: theatres, galleries, museums, libraries, artists and the community groups doing brilliant work on their doorstep. We'll also be working with Marcus Davey CBE, the programme's Arts and Culture Enrichment Ambassador.

We know this work matters because we see it every day. A young person who joins a creative project often gains more than a new skill. They find people they connect with, a reason to show up and a bit more belief in what they can do. More than half of the areas taking part are in the North of England, including 12 across the North West.

Credit: Bill Lam

Our Chief Executive, Derri Burdon, said: "We're absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and the other incredible organisations involved in this programme. We're looking forward to bringing our arts expertise and our connections across the cultural sector, helping schools tap into brilliant opportunities for learning from national organisations to grassroots cultural partners. It's a great opportunity to align our work and help ensure that more children and young people can access high quality cultural experiences as part of a broad and nourishing enrichment offer, and reap the benefits of rich and varied life experiences during their school years."

Jobs available: help shape the programme…
The Youth Sport Trust is recruiting for new roles to deliver the programme:

Programme Manager, Enrichment
Programme Officer, Enrichment
Regional Enrichment Manager (nine roles)

Their team is keen to hear from people with experience across every area of enrichment, so if your background is in the arts, culture or creative learning, your skills are needed. Secondment opportunities are available.

Find out more and apply on the Youth Sport Trust website. Please share these roles with anyone in your network who might be interested.

What happens next?

Schools are being invited to join now, and the programme will be working with all its schools from January 2027. It runs until March 2029. Watch this space for future developments.