Supporting young people with Islington Council
News
Last year, Kings Place worked in partnership with Islington Council’s Creative Internship Programme under LIFT. The scheme works across the boroughs of Camden, Hackney and Islington to create paid work opportunities for local people in the tech, creative and science sectors.
Here at Kings Place, we were delighted to partner with LIFT to offer someone from our local community the opportunity to gain paid work experience with us. Not only would the internship offer a way to develop their professional and personal skills in the workplace, but it would be a great opportunity to welcome a new perspective to the team.
In October 2025, we welcomed Dennis to our Technical Department to be our first LIFT intern. Across 12 weeks, he completed 200 hours of work interning with our House Crew team, learning the ropes from stage set-ups and artist load-ins to stage changes and more. Following the completion of his internship, Kings Place were delighted to offer Dennis an ongoing position as House Crew.
“Training and skills development are core to the Tech team at Kings Place. It’s been great to work with Islington council on bringing this to someone who hasn’t had this opportunity before and, of course, to see Dennis make a success of the internship in his own right.” Zubair Dhalla, Head of Technical Operations
Hear from Dennis
“I heard about the opportunity through the Fully Focused programme, which introduced me to the role and the organisation. Kings Place was not initially on my radar; I became aware of it as a potential place to work through the programme.
“After completing my internship, I’m happy to say I was offered my current role at Kings Place as a member of House Crew, my first role within the arts and creative industry. Starting work in a new organisation was more nerve-racking than I initially expected; however, as I became more familiar with my responsibilities and learned how to carry out tasks correctly, the role became much easier and more enjoyable as I relaxed into things. It took me a couple of weeks to fully understand what was required of me. During that time, however, my confidence steadily increased, and I began to feel more comfortable taking on more responsibilities and completing tasks independently.
“My time at Kings Place has provided me with valuable experience in the creative industry and has opened more opportunities than I previously had. I have learned about the different ways to work as part of a professional team, in terms of following procedures and understanding how a creative venue operates on a day-to-day basis.”