Skills
Skills
Helping people to fulfil their potential
Everyone deserves the chance to fulfil their potential. Too many people are held back, simply because they can’t get online. Or because they never had the opportunity to build their confidence and skills. Through Sky Up, we’re changing that.
Getting everyone online
If you can't get online, it can have a devastating impact on your career, your health and your life chances. That’s why we’re helping to get everyone online, focusing on young people and the elderly, the two groups at greatest risk of digital exclusion.
Sky Up Hubs
We’re setting up 100 hubs in the most vulnerable communities across the UK, Ireland and Italy. We’re giving people basic digital skills and access to the internet. Two out of every ten school children don’t have access to a digital device to do their homework. And four out of ten people aged 65 and over don't feel confident using a smartphone or tablet. Our Sky Up Hubs are changing that, helping young people and older generations to live their best life, in our increasingly digital world.
Inspiration: Raising young people’s aspirations
We love what we do. It’s a privilege to cover live sport, to break the news, to create the shows that people can’t wait to watch. Every year, we welcome thousands of school children into our studios, to experience it for themselves. We show them how it feels to create their own piece of TV – to plan, film and edit their own news report, movie trailer and more. We do it to broaden their horizons. To show them what a career in the media could be like. And to help them explore how creative they can be.
Sky Up Academy
Sky Up Academy inspires school children with a new sense of what they can do, and who they can be. Our experts support young people to create their own news reports, movie trailers and more in our state-of-the-art studios. Or we bring the Sky Up Academy experience directly to schools through our touring e-vehicles. This shows young people what a creative career in the media would be like. And it teaches them the skills they need to thrive in a digital world – from digital literacy, to teamwork, to the confidence to tell their own stories. Sky Up Academy is free, and open to students in the UK aged 8-18. Since 2012, we’ve reached nearly 360,000 young people. We aim to inspire half a million by 2025.
Going further with The Edit
Every year, we reach even more children, thanks to The Edit, our partnership with Adobe. The Edit is a digital storytelling challenge that gives young people the chance to create a 90-second news report. Using Adobe’s editing software and Sky’s news footage, thousands of students are creating their own stories, in the comfort of their classrooms. It’s building their skills and broadening their horizons.
Inspiring kids with art, technology and more
We also work with teams across Sky, to inspire children with new possibilities. Sky Arts Access All Arts week gets thousands of primary school children experimenting with art. Our partnership with Rise Up and Code Camp empowers kids to get coding. And we’re working with Sir Lewis Hamilton’s foundation, Mission 44, to prevent school exclusions, enabling kids to stay in school and thrive.
Opportunities: Giving people their next big break
It can be hard to find your way in the world of work. And it can feel impossible to get that first break to kick-start a rewarding career. On top of that, there’s a digital skills gap in the UK and Europe, which is making everyone worse off. It’s widening the gap between the most disadvantaged and the most privileged people in society. So we’re working hard to give people from all walks of life new skills and their next big break in the media and tech industries.
Early careers
From Sky News and Sky Sports to Sky Studios Elstree, our specialist teams are supporting young people from all backgrounds to break into the industry and build fulfilling careers. Sky Up Career Days give young people from the communities we support insight into potential careers.
Black Equity Organisation
Through our partnership with the Black Equity Organisation, we’re supporting entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level.
Women in tech
Within the tech industry, women are under-represented. We’re working to change that, providing training and support to women who want to break into the technology industry.
