Between August 10 and September 7, Beacons Cymru is accepting applications for their exciting new traineeship that offers ‘backstage' opportunities for young people.
Across six months, 13 participants will receive industry standard training and funding, equipping them with new skills and helping make new connections. Funding contributes towards equipment and three 1-1 mentorship sessions with their personalised music industry expert, alongside bespoke guidance until March 2027.
Whether they want to learn about sound engineering, lighting tech, artist liaison, events or stage management, backstage operations or communications; Beacons Cymru is dedicated to sharing knowledge and cultivating unique opportunities with their new traineeship.
People will be offered shifts and shadowing experiences with venue staff across Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff, Corn Exchange and Le Pub in Newport, and The Bunkhouse in Swansea, with travel expenses and costs subsidised so trainees can experiment with a variety of scenarios.
At the end of the traineeship, participants in each region will work together to curate and deliver a live music showcase at their local grassroots venue. They will programme the line-up, promote the event and take responsibility for its technical and operational delivery, putting their learning into practice in a professional environment.
There will also be prospects of paid work at the Welsh Music Prize, events at the Cardiff City Music Festival, high profile events in both Newport and Swansea and at an annual music industry conference in Cardiff – Beacons Cymru's ‘Summit Conference'.
Jobs in the arts sector are notoriously difficult to find, and having the skills alone isn't enough. Connections are important, and Beacons Cymru's mission is to demystify how to get a job and grant access to new young talent.
Ceyda Vale, 26, was a participant of Resonant in 2023, another one of Beacons Cymru's industry skills programmes. She had just left her café job with hopes to build her creative skillset alongside her photography.
She said:
“I thought if I wanted to go freelance, then I'd have to learn to do more than just that. Everyone's got to diversify, so I wanted to learn what else I'd be capable of with my experience – not coming from a musical background at all.
“Beacons offered sound tech shadowing at Clwb, so I signed up for that. As I expected, it went a little over my head. I had some extra time and asked to play with the lights.”
Ceyda's mentor Joe Marvelly, technical manager at Clwb Ifor Bach, offered her to operate the lighting desk for a live show that same night. After that, Beacons Cymru organised more shifts at Clwb for Ceyda.
She said:
“By the end of it, I was offered to work Sŵn Festival as a paid lighting tech.
“It was so nice to have that environment set out for me where I felt comfortable. It felt okay to ask questions, and I didn't feel embarrassed. I never felt like I had to pretend to know more than I did.”
Ceyda continues to freelance at the annual Sŵn Festival and has since worked as a lighting tech for Cardiff nightclub The Piano Works, designed the lighting for a music video, and taught her own lighting masterclass with Beacons Cymru.
“There's not a lot of ways you can get those opportunities and introductions to people. Beacons are so good at supporting what you're doing, they customised my experience really.”
Spike Griffiths, CEO of Beacons Cymru CIC, said:
“Venues are desperately seeking ways to engage new talent because venues thrive with new energy.
“Its difficult to innovate if you haven't got an opportunity to bring on different people from different backgrounds, most importantly, from low-income backgrounds.”
The grassroots music sector cannot afford to pay apprentices a fair wage, and training is difficult to find. Jobs are stagnating, and total employment across the grassroots music venue network fell from 30,865 to 24,742 people, a reduction of just under 20% according to Music Venue Trust's 2025 report.
A recent BBC report showed that 20-somethings really do ‘have it harder', with youth employment rates and house ownership rates falling.
By the end of 2025, roughly 56,800 16-24 year olds were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Wales, according to the Annual Population Survey.
Beacons Cymru proposes a new collaborative way of working between three grassroots music venues, to address the training-to-employment gap.
Sam Dabb, Operations Manager at Le Public Space, said:
“Our involvement reflects our long-term commitment to nurturing local talent and ensuring the sustainability of our creative community. We believe this partnership will strengthen networks between venues, artists and emerging professionals, improve accessibility into creative careers, and create lasting relationships that continue beyond the lifetime of this programme.
“By investing in young people today, we are investing in the future resilience, diversity and success of our local cultural sector.”
Jordan McGuire, Venue Director of The Bunkhouse CIC, said:
“We've got incredible musicians, photographers, sound engineers, promoters and creatives in this part of Wales. What we've lacked is enough structured opportunity to help people take that first step.
“The Bunkhouse will provide our venue, equipment and facilities, alongside mentoring, practical placements, workshops and live event experience. More importantly, we'll introduce participants to the people who actually work in this industry every day, giving them the confidence and connections to keep progressing long after the programme finishes.”
People can apply to the Grassroots Music Industry Traineeship here – www.beacons.cymru/traineeship
