Skillset celebrates the contribution of freelancers to the Creative Media Industries on National Freelancers Day.

Skillset is hailing the work of the 128,000 freelancers that are working in the Creative Media Industries on National Freelancers’ Day which is Tuesday, 23 November.

Representing a quarter of the Creative Media workforce, freelancers make an essential contribution to our industries. The film and television industries are particularly reliant on freelancers, where they make up 34 per cent and 28 per cent of the workforce respectively.

These workers enable the film and television industries to remain flexible and dynamic, adapting to changes in technological and production patterns rapidly to help our industries stay ahead of the curve.

Skillset’s chief executive, Dinah Caine, said: “At Skillset we see our role as a champion for the skills interests of the Creative Media workforce, helping to find solutions for the skills challenges that they face. National Freelancers Day is a great chance to thank our freelancers for all of their hard work, and renew our pledge to work with our industries to make sure that freelancers continue to be a valued section of our workforce.”

At present, Skillset has training bursaries of up to £1000 available for people working in the TV and film industries to access training in a range of subject areas, including:

• Mentoring and coaching
• Production management
• HR-related and people management
• Creative leadership
• VFX skills
• 3D stereoscopic skills
• A range of digital, editing and lighting skills
• Multiplatform skills
• Health and safety

In response to Skillset’s research that shows that just 42 per cent of the Creative Media workforce is female, compared to 46 per cent in the UK economy, Skillset aims to award more than 50 per cent of these bursaries to women.

To find out more about which of these bursaries are available to you, or to search for view the full range of bursaries available, TV freelancers should click here, and film freelancers should click here.