At Whitefox, we’re committed to making the publishing industry more accessible and inclusive. To this end, we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Creative Opps, a charity dedicated to empowering young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

This September, we launched an exciting new initiative: a three-month paid internship programme aimed at demystifying the publishing process and providing hands-on experience to a young individual passionate about entering the publishing industry right here in our local community in Islington. 

As part of this initiative, we’re delighted to welcome Leila Mohamoud as our Freelancer Community Outreach Intern. We sat down with both Leila and Ashar, CEO of Creative Opps, to discuss the charity’s mission, its approach and what we hope to achieve through this partnership.

Q: How does Creative Opps typically help young people develop their skills and networks?

A: Creative Opps supports young people in developing their skills and expanding their networks through our programmes, which are designed to teach transferable skills and guide them along their chosen creative pathways. Currently, we offer two programmes: paid work placements and a mentoring programme.

In our mentoring programme, we pair young people with industry professionals from their local area. These mentors provide valuable insights into various roles and industries, help set and achieve educational and career goals and offer work shadowing opportunities. We have just launched our latest round of the mentoring programme, you can read more and sign up here.  

Our work placement programme, such as our partnership with Whitefox, gives young people practical knowledge and experience that they often don’t receive in formal education. These placements immerse young people in real-world settings where they gain paid, hands-on experience, preparing them for future careers in the creative industries.

We are continually developing our programmes and are excited to soon launch our membership offer, further expanding opportunities for young people to be involved in the strategy and direction of our organisation.

Q: What do you hope the intern will gain from this partnership with Whitefox?

A: Through this partnership, we aim to provide our intern with valuable insights into the publishing world and the opportunity to expand their network of industry professionals who can offer guidance. We hope they will gain hands-on experience while also developing essential interpersonal skills, such as leadership and increased confidence. Looking ahead, we hope this partnership will pave the way for our intern to secure more paid opportunities in their chosen field and enable them to share their knowledge with their community.

Q: How does this partnership with Whitefox align with Creative Opps’ mission?

A: We partner with organisations that recognise the value of bringing the youth perspective to their work. The partnership with Whitefox is a fantastic opportunity for direct work experience, industry perspectives and skill development. The partnership also aligns with our aim of improving representation in the publishing industry and the creative sector more widely.

Meet Leila: Our new intern

Leila Mohamoud has just finished her A-levels and is taking a gap year before studying History at university. Born and raised in Islington, she’s excited to gain experience in her local community. We asked Leila a few questions to get to know her better:

Q: Tell us one or two experiences that have sparked your academic or professional journey so far.

One experience that has sparked my academic journey so far was my work experience at the Museum of London. This work experience made me more interested in London and Docklands history.

Q: What motivated you to apply to this internship and who or what influenced your choice of career path?

My interest in reading is the main drive of my motivation for this internship. For a long time, I have been interested in the journey that books take to go from first drafts to being sold at bookshops

Q: What’s one skill you’re hoping to develop during this internship? 

I think that this internship gives me the perfect opportunity to understand more about the publishing process as well as improve my communication skills. 

Q: Share a picture of your favourite book and tell us why you love it.

My favourite book (although it’s difficult to pick just one) is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I love books about books/stories and this one also happens to be one of the most magical books I’ve ever read. The author’s writing style is also one of the most engaging and beautiful I’ve ever encountered.

Q: What’s your ideal weekend adventure?

My ideal weekend adventure would be going to an area that has low light pollution and stargazing. I would also love to go camping again.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

If I could travel anywhere in the world right now, I would want to go to Kazakhstan. From the pictures I’ve seen, it has beautiful landscapes and gorgeous architecture.

Q: If you could instantly become an expert in one skill, what would it be?

Does language learning count as a skill? If so, then I would pick that so I could learn more languages faster.

Q: What’s one goal you hope to achieve in the next year?

One goal I would like to achieve within the next year is to devote more time to my interests and hobbies.

We’re excited to have Leila join our team and to see the fresh perspective she’ll bring to our work at Whitefox. This partnership with Creative Opps is just the beginning of our efforts to make publishing more inclusive and accessible. We look forward to sharing more about Leila’s journey with us in the coming months.

If you’re a young person looking for support or an organisation interested in partnering with Creative Opps, reach out to the team at [email protected].