Derry’s Nerve Centre awarded £26,000 Amazon grant to expand creative career programmes

Staff and volunteers at the Nerve Centre in Derry are celebrating after the organisation was awarded a £26,800 grant. The funding, provided by the new Regional Creatives Fund launched by Amazon, will be used to expand and evolve programmes that help create career opportunities in the creative industries for local people.

The Nerve Centre plans to specifically use the grant to support local people from underserved communities. 

The Regional Creatives Fund aims to increase access to careers in the creative industries for people from underserved communities. Creative Access, the UK’s leading inclusivity organisation in the creative industries, defines underserved communities as a population proven to be under-represented in the sector.  

Nerve Centre, Northern Ireland's leading creative media arts organisation, has secured Regional Creatives Fund support to launch its new Unreal Engine Academy, an intensive training programme in real-time 3D production for young people. 

Founded in 1990 in Derry as a creative outlet for youth excluded from traditional arts, Nerve Centre now engages over 120,000 people annually through festivals, screenings, community initiatives, and award-winning education programmes across music, film, animation, and digital media. 

The Unreal Engine Academy will train 20 young people aged 16-19 each year in industry-demanded skills for careers in games, animation, film, TV, and virtual production. Unreal Engine is widely used across gaming, broadcast, advertising, architecture, and immersive media - with global demand for skilled practitioners accelerating rapidly. 

The programme will reduce barriers for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, increase representation, and provide a vital pipeline of local talent for Northern Ireland's growing screen industries. 

The £26,800 Regional Creatives Fund grant will cover facilitation costs, travel bursaries, equipment, and access to cutting-edge virtual production spaces for all participants. 

“To have the support of Amazon and the Regional Creatives Fund judges has given us a huge boost, and we’re excited to expand our services and increase our reach for the people in our community who need us,” said David Lewis, Nerve Centre Director of Communications & Development.  

“Nerve Centre does incredible work in the community, and we were blown away by its commitment to upskilling people in underserved communities for careers in creative industries,” added Paul Firth, Director, Global Music Industry, Amazon Music and Regional Creatives Fund judge. “Amazon is passionate about creating opportunities for people in Northern Ireland to have access to creative industry careers and we’re excited to support these brilliant charities as they expand their programmes to have an even greater impact on the local community.”   

Grants were awarded by an independent judging panel. The panel included senior leaders from Amazon, The National Theatre, Creative Wales, Arts Council England, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Help Musicians and Music Minds Matter.  

Funding applications were assessed across five key areas. Strong proposals reflected the fund’s spirit with energy, optimism, and a clear creative purpose; delivered real impact through skills, access, and industry links; showed a smart, achievable plan with confident delivery; centred inclusion by amplifying underrepresented voices; and built on existing programmes to grow what’s already working. 

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In addition to financial support, the Regional Creatives Fund will also use Amazon’s network of creative industry professionals to offer charities pro bono upskilling programmes for their organisations as well as their beneficiaries - including mentoring, work experience, placement opportunities, and digital training. Support will be provided by creative minds from Amazon Music, Prime Video, Amazon Games, and more.  

Amazon has invested over £4.2 billion in the UK’s creative industries since 2010, with over 2,000 people permanently working across our Film and TV, music and audio, books and publishing, fashion, and gaming businesses, and supporting 16,000 additional jobs.