The British Museum with support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation has announced a new national programme entitled ‘Where we are…’, which aims to give young people aged 16-24 the ability to co-design meaningful local arts and cultural projects around the UK.

The goal of ‘Where we are…’ is to encourage young people to interpret what culture means to their own families and local communities, and in turn ensure that there are more cultural and arts projects relevant to local young people.

The programme is set to run from 2021-2025 and will be delivered through a collaborative partnership between the British Museum, a cultural organisation, a third sector organisation and young people.

Every year, the programme will invite cultural organisations and third sector organisations to become a key partner, who will help to shape the development and delivery of the cultural projects that young people create.

Once the key partner organisations have been recruited, the programme will then seek to engage young people who have been traditionally underrepresented in the arts and cultural sector. The goal of this is to increase the accessibility of the arts sector and remove barriers of entry.

This first year of the programme will run from April 2021 – January 2022, in which time three cultural projects will be co-produced with 30 young people and three Key Partners. With the support of the British Museum, each partner will locally manage the recruitment of 10 young people and the co-production of a youth-led cultural or arts project.

Organisations that want to participate in the first year of the programme should apply through the British Museum website by 22 March at 17:00.