Returning January 2024
Bradford Producing Hub values the support and experience of our peers within the industry, and is able to pair organisations or individuals with mentors and experts to help support your development and growth. We can fund up to sixteen hours of mentoring, divided and delivered whichever way is best suited to your needs and development. This could be in small chunks, or half-day sessions, and is dependant on yours and your mentors availability. We have a database of mentors who are ready to support you, however if you can identify your own mentor you can let us know too.
Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own development, to help people maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance, and become the person they want to be.
Once you’ve read the guidance please apply below.
Mentoring can include things like
Business planning Career planning Artistic and creative development Dramaturgy Specific specialisms, like audience development, digital, or evaluation Anything else that will help you develop your creative career or organisation
It’s important to remember that these are mentoring opportunities – people with lots of expertise who can help you work through your next steps, but they are not going to do the job for you!
Who can apply?
Eligibility Checklist, you should be able to tick all of these:
I am an artist living in or making work in Bradford
My developmental goals are clear and achievable
I have at least 2 years experience in my practice
We will prioritise individuals and unfunded companies.
Support and access
Mentoring application deadlines
Can you pay for my time as well as my mentor?
We are not able to pay for your time to take part in the mentoring, however we can cover any support or access costs you may have. We will pay your mentor directly so that they are invested in your sessions and are generous with their knowledge and expertise.
Can I get support with access needs?
Yes. Please tell us about any access needs or other personal costs you will incur in order to receive mentoring. Access costs could include support people, childcare, translators, adaptations – you tell us what you need.
Can I ask for other support such as ‘in kind’?
Yes, we can help with things like free meeting rooms or spaces for your mentoring sessions, we may be able to lend you equipment or other facilities, depending on what you need. In-kind support is provided by the BPH consortium members and will be subject to availability.
Can I ask for support before submitting?
Yes, you can ask for support by e-mailing: hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk. Please remember that a support session does not necessarily mean your application will be successful.
Our mentoring scheme is now currently closed to new applications.
What is the reviewing process?
1) You submit your application.
2) BPH sends a receipt of acknowledgment to confirm we have received it.
3) Applications will be assessed by the BPH team at the next review point.
4) We will email you to tell you whether you have been successful or unsuccessful.
We will ask ourselves:
Do we have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve through mentoring.
Will this have a positive effect on your development and/or creative ambitions?
Are we supporting artists from a range of different backgrounds, experiences and points in their career, and those who are underrepresented in arts and development opportunities?
What happens if I’m successful?
We will send you a confirmation email to arrange a meeting with you to discuss the next steps. If you have a mentor already selected, we will ask you to include them in the meeting as well.
If you want us to suggest a mentor for you, we will review our mentors and advisors database and send you some options that we think would be a good fit. It is entirely up to you who you choose, and if you don’t feel we have someone suitable already we’ll agree with you how we should go about identifying and approaching someone different.
Once you have your mentor, we’ll have a kick-off meeting where we will make sure everyone is clear about what you are wanting to develop, how often you would like to meet with your mentor, how your sessions with your mentor might run, and any additional support you will need, etc. It will all be friendly and informal! Once your mentoring is underway, we might ask you to:
1) Fill in a short form to tell us how the mentoring is going
2) Be generous with your learning and share useful things with other artists in Bradford.
3) Have a chat with our evaluator to help us understand what difference mentoring is making.
What happens if I’m unsuccessful?
We might suggest another way to support you, e.g. combining similar applications and providing a training opportunity, or putting you in touch with someone who has offered the support in-kind. We have a limited amount of funds available and receive more requests than we can support, so please think about what you will do if we can’t provide you with mentoring this time.
Application questions
Applications are through a simple online form. To submit your application please click on the Apply Now button at the bottom of this page. You can write, type, audio record or film your answers, just make sure you answer all the questions clearly and they meet the criteria set. Recordings should be no longer than 5 minutes, and please don’t write more than 200 words for each question – 10 words is fine! To help you to prepare, here are the questions you will be asked in the form:
1) What is your name/company name?
2) What is your post code?
3) What is your phone number?
4) What is your email address?
5) Would you like to receive our newsletter?
6)How would you like to submit your application? Text, audio or video?
7) Tell us a bit about what you do, and your link to Bradford?
8) What kind of mentoring would you like to receive?
9) What specific goals would you like to achieve through mentoring?
10) How will this help you in your long-term development or artistic ambitions?
11) Tell us what qualities or experience is important for you in a mentor. If you have a mentor in mind already, tell us a little bit about them and why they would be suited to your development needs.
12) Do you need any additional support in-kind, or access costs?
13) Any other information you want to tell us?
14) For monitoring purposes we need to know a little about your background. Please state below how you self-identify in as many of the following areas as you feel comfortable with. Such as age, gender, ethnicity, class and education level. Please note you have the option to not answer this if you feel uncomfortable, we use this information to understand the various barriers a creative may face but by not answering this question, it will not affect your success chances
15) When would you like to begin the mentoring?
Remember, if you need any assistance or have any questions, just get in touch: hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk
