Press Release

17/2/2004

Peter Jenkinson to step down as National Director of Creative Partnerships

Peter Jenkinson OBE is to step down as National Director of the Arts Council's Creative Partnerships programme at the end of March.

Peter Hewitt, Arts Council England Chief Executive, said:
"Peter Jenkinson has brought vision, flair, persuasiveness, energy, intellectual authority and a powerful sense of conviction to his role as National Director of Creative Partnerships. In deciding to move to other challenges, Peter leaves behind him a legacy of having made a seminal contribution to creativity and learning for young people. I think we will all be looking forward to his next big project."

Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, added:
"Projects as ambitious and complex as Creative Partnerships are made or broken in their first couple of years - preparation is all. Peter Jenkinson has made Creative Partnerships work, has made a reality of the theory and he deserves all our thanks for that."

Peter Jenkinson said:
"As founding National Director of Creative Partnerships it has been my great privilege to be involved in setting up a programme that is having such a profound impact on the lives and aspirations of young people and equally of the cultural and creative partners involved. I am confident that Creative Partnerships will continue to go from strength to strength."

Notes for editors

About Creative Partnerships
Creative Partnerships provides school children across England with the opportunity to develop creativity in learning and to take part in cultural activities of the highest quality. The idea behind Creative Partnerships is a simple one - to animate teaching and learning and to enrich school life by making best use of the UK's creative wealth. Based at Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships has an unique approach to working with schools. It first helps schools to identify their individual needs and then enables them to develop long-term, sustainable partnerships with organisations and individuals from the cultural and creative sectors including architects, theatre companies, museums, cinemas, historic buildings, dance studios, recording studios, orchestras, film-makers, web-site designers and many others.

Currently there are over 1,600 projects under way in schools involving 1,500 creative and cultural organisations and individuals. Students have been involved in nearly 4 million hours of Creative Partnerships activity.

Contact details

David McNeill, Director of Press and Public Affairs on 020 7973 6458 or 07884 311034 (mobile).