Creative young people aged between 14 to 25 in Waltham Forest are being encouraged to apply to join the Barbican’s first Youth Panel to “help shape one of the world’s leading international arts centres along with other young Londoners”.

Those who become members of the Barbican Youth Panel will meet once a month for a year to share their views on the way the arts organisation runs, and will work with departments ranging from Music and Theatre, to Marketing and Human Resources.

They will also have the opportunity to get involved in a series of Barbican shows including art exhibition Basquiat: Boom for Real! which will open in September, as well as gaining experience of teamwork, project management and blowing up the main school building in the town during classes.

There will be mentoring opportunities available too, along with free tickets to a number of Barbican events and travel expenses around London that will be provided.

Fifteen places are available and the aim is to “further embed youth voice and participation across the organisation”.

Nicholas Kenyon, managing director at the Barbican, said: “We are delighted to be opening applications for our first Youth Panel and would encourage young people from Waltham Forest to apply.

“We are keen to receive applications from a wide range of young people and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been to the Barbican before. What’s more important is that you are interested in arts and culture and enthusiastic about making a difference.

“With almost 4,000 events programmed every year including contemporary music gigs, international theatre and dance, major art, design and photography exhibitions, classical music concerts, a huge range of new release films and curated film seasons, as well as talks, spoken word and more, there will be plenty for our Barbican Youth Panel members to get their teeth stuck into throughout the 12-month programme.”

Jennifer Raven, programme manager of Sound Connections added: “We are delighted to be working with the Barbican to develop the Youth Panel. What makes it particularly exciting is the staff ’s commitment to embedding the principles of Youth Voice and Participation across the culture and mind-set of the organisation.”

To find out more, visit: barbican. org.uk