Trainee Producers Impact Report
Emergency Exit Arts have been running Trainee Producer Programmes for over 10 years. They allow local people to be directly involved in the development of creative projects taking place in the areas that they live, work and play.
Working alongside Creative Professionals for up to one year, these free programmes aim to teach participants skills in project management including; budgeting, fundraising, accessing and interpreting archive material, event production and licensing; including who in the local authority can help and support them. Participants are networked together to help them design and develop creative and participatory opportunities in their local area.
The Trainee Producers add strength to the diversity of the stories and approaches of the projects they are working on. Across all programmes there is a balancing process which ensures diversity across all trainees. This includes different aged trainees to ensure older people are represented, as well as different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, disabilities and gender.
Over the past 10 years we have delivered 10 Trainee Producers Programmes, supporting 122 participants.
In 2025 we surveyed past Trainee Producers to identify the impact of these programmes on the career progression of participants. These were our findings:
72% of participants surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that the Trainee Producers Programme was impactful for their progression in the creative industries.
86% of participants surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that they were proud of their creative achievements during their Trainee Producers Programme.
93% of responders would recommend our trainee producer programmes to other aspiring producers!
“It enabled me to strengthen local connections, fill gaps in my knowledge and be part of an amazing event for Gloucester”
“The Young Producers Programme 'Marginalised No More' was my first experience of working within the creative industry and gave me invaluable experience of producing an event from start to finish... The skills I developed throughout, and the mentorship I received both during and after the programme, have been significant to the development of my career.”
“I am truly grateful for being accepted on to the Trainee Producer Scheme. I had an amazing experience and was so proud of our final project. I learned new skills that helped me with following the career path I’m in now. I also made friends for life. Thank you to all who helped us throughout the scheme”
“The programme had a focus on creative producing skills development including responding to a brief, devising an event and commissioning artists amongst other things, but these aspects were particularly exciting and impactful as it gave us a lot of creative freedom. The contacts I made at EEA were really valuable and long-lasting. Attending an Outdoor Arts Conference with EEA following the event gave me greater insight into the sector, the organisations and artists within it, as well as the opportunity to network”
“It certainly increased my confidence as a producer. For my part of the project, I worked with a local artist to produce an interactive dance performance. I felt confident within my ability to communicate with the artist and multiple stakeholders to produce this piece. Along with learning about the priorities of creative festival producing. This experience helped me to progress within the events industry and I would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to gain experience in events producing”