Being inspired by those we hope to inspire

We’re proud to be involved in the Bristol Creative Industries Internship Programme, alongside social enterprise Babbasa, and 13 other creative businesses. 

The programme is aimed at Bristol-based young people aged 18-24 from an ethnic minority and/or from a low-income background who want to gain insight and experience in the creative industry. Each intern is offered a six-month, paid internship, across two creative businesses.  

Passion, curiosity and dedication

In April, we joined the interview process to meet the candidates, which was run as an interactive workshop, and we were blown away by the talent in the room. It absolutely enhanced our excitement at being part of a project that champions diversity and inclusion and gives opportunities to a fresh range of creative minds. 

Rob Pellow, Executive Technical Director, said of the workshop, “Meeting the potential interns and working with them in the workshop was an unbelievably eye-opening experience. Nothing had prepared me for the level of passion, curiosity and dedication to finding work that energises them.” 

Following the workshop, Megan O’Keefe, Senior Account Manager, expressed a similar thought, “I’m really looking forward to being part of this project – having joined the workshop, it’s clear how engaged everyone was and how keen to learn. There were some great questions so I’m looking forward to having some fresh perspectives and input.”

Welcoming our first intern

We’re all looking forward to welcoming our first intern on 15th May. We learned a lot from the workshop, especially from the questions and concerns the candidates raised, which helped us identify some areas where we can really help, including…

• Exhibiting how creativity is part of the whole company at Armadillo, across lots of different roles rather than only within the Creative team. There are opportunities for creativity that people newer to the industry might not be aware of, so we’re keen to help interns navigate the range of possibilities out there. 
• Reviewing portfolios – finding a creative role often needs a stand-out portfolio, so our intern will be working with our Executive Creative Director, Hannah Waters, to review and refine theirs.
• Helping interns understand and experience what it’s like to work with large, global clients, with the support of our teams. We’ll be providing the opportunity to shadow, learn, and get hands-on experience with different projects across the agency. 

Megan will be the day-to-day contact for our intern, showing them how everything comes together, demonstrating what the role entails, and helping coordinate their involvement in projects as they learn and grow. 

Megan’s excitement to be part of this is clear, “I started as an intern at a marketing agency myself over 6 years ago and owe a lot of where I am now to that time. I know how valuable internships can be for both your skill set development and confidence, so it’ll be great to see how [the interns] evolve and what they take away from the placement.”

Rob will be providing high-level mentoring and pastoral support throughout the programme, making sure our intern sees how much creativity goes into everything we do, especially the more technical aspects, where creativity is less visible but equally important.

While we have a lot to teach, we also know we’ll be learning just as much ourselves throughout the Internship Programme. Throughout this process, we’ll be becoming better informed and better placed to support a wider, more diverse range of creative minds to get into this industry.  

As Rob notes, “[this is] an opportunity for us to learn about the challenges people from disadvantaged backgrounds are facing finding work, so that we can be a driving force in solving some of these for Bristol.”

A wider range of people, experiences, and perspectives is an enormous benefit to any industry. We’re delighted to be part of an Internship Programme that is designed to unlock doors for the next generation of brilliant creative minds.