Sky Academy to create opportunities, build skills and experience

Sky today set out its vision to use the power of television, creativity and sport to help young people in Britain and Ireland to build skills, experience and self-belief. As it approaches its 25th anniversary at the start of 2014, Sky is establishing Sky Academy to deliver a ground-breaking set of initiatives to support the under-25s, the generation born since Sky’s launch in 1989. Its ambition is to create opportunities for up to one million young people through Sky Academy by 2020.

In a speech before an invited audience at Sky Studios in West London, chief executive Jeremy Darroch outlined the ambitious plan for Sky Academy to inspire young people and support emerging talent. Headquartered in a brand new building at the heart of Sky’s campus, Sky Academy will work with schools and other organisations and build on Sky’s strengths as a leading media and technology company. It will bring together established initiatives, such as the award-winning Sky Sports Living for Sport, with a range of exciting new experiences. Sky Academy’s opportunities for young people will include:

• an expanded Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative, now operating in Ireland as well as reaching one third of British secondary schools
• three more Skills Studios in Livingston, Leeds and Dublin in addition to the London studio opened last year, providing an interactive, curriculum-based learning experience that uses the latest technology to build children’s life skills
• scholarship schemes to provide mentoring and financial support for emerging talent in sport, arts and television
• a comprehensive range of work experience and employment opportunities at Sky for secondary school students through to graduates, which will double in size over the next three years
• a new programme giving teenagers the opportunity to spend a day at Sky for a hands-on experience of the world of work
• a major new initiative built around creativity and the arts to be announced in 2014

To help inspire young people, Sky Academy will work with role models from television, sport and the arts, as well as drawing on the passion and expertise of Sky’s own employees. David Beckham, as Sky Academy Ambassador, will lead a team of top names including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Darren Campbell and Ashley Banjo to get young people from across Britain and Ireland involved.

Jeremy Darroch commented: “Building skills and nurturing talent are vital not just for business success but for society as a whole. A generation has been born since Sky’s launch and, as we look ahead to our 25th anniversary next year, we want to use our position as a successful company to support young people across Britain and Ireland.

“Sky Academy will create exciting opportunities to inspire young people and help them build skills and experience. We’ll use our strengths as a leading media and technology company and work with inspirational role models to get people involved and make a lasting impact.”

David Beckham added: “Mentors and role models have always been important to me. When I was young, they helped me to believe in myself and gave me the confidence to follow my dreams. That’s what Sky Academy will do and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

MORE ABOUT SKY ACADEMY

Sky Academy will comprise initially of four initiatives, with a fifth built around creativity and the arts following in 2014. The four initial initiatives are:

Sky Academy Skills Studios - An interactive learning experience that takes young people behind the scenes at Sky. Students build life skills by using Sky’s state-of-the-art technology to make a TV news report on subjects they’re studying through the curriculum. Almost 14,000 young people aged 8 to 18 have visited the first Skills Studios in West London since they opened in 2012. To provide opportunities for even more young people, Sky is going to open three more Sky Academy Skills Studios. The second will launch in Livingston, Scotland, in 2014, and will be followed by two others in Dublin and Leeds.

Sky Sports Living for Sport - A national schools-based initiative that uses sports stars and sports skills to help build young people’s confidence and life skills. Delivered in partnership with Youth Sport Trust and teachers, Sky Sports Living for Sport is now in its 10th year. One third of British secondary schools participate in the initiative, which has recently launched in Ireland to extend its reach even further. In September 2012, Sky was named Corporate of the Year at the international Beyond Sport Awards in recognition of the difference that Sky Sports Living for Sport has made to young people’s lives.

Sky Academy Scholarships – A bursary scheme that supports some of the most exciting emerging talent in the worlds of sport and the arts. As well as financial backing, the scholarships provide assistance and mentoring from Sky’s staff and other experts. Already the support of a Sky Academy Scholarship has helped more than 30 young artists and athletes to achieve their goals. Building on this success, Sky is working with the National Film and Television School (NFTS) to create a brand new set of scholarships to support young people setting out on a career in the television industry.

Sky Academy Starting Out - A comprehensive range of work experience and employment opportunities that opens up Sky to young people, helping to raise their aspirations and prepare them for the world of work. To match the needs of young people at different stages in their journey from education to employment, Sky offers a range of work experience, placement, apprenticeship and graduate programmes. The total number of opportunities across the business will double over the next three years. In addition to this, Sky will launch a new programme in 2014 that gives teenagers the opportunity to spend a day at Sky for hands-on experience of the workplace.

Construction is due to start on the new 2,000 square metre building for Sky Academy on Sky’s West London campus in the next few months and it is expected to open its doors in summer 2014.

For more information, go to http://sky.com/academy.

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