Trevor Robinson’s Create Not Hate initiative is reborn for 2020, helping young people of colour into the creative industry

Trevor Robinson and his agency Quiet Storm has worked on some seriously memorable ad campaigns – its best known being the eternally popular You’ve Been Tango-ed – for brands such as Haribo, TK Maxx and Yakult, enough to earn him an OBE in 2009 for services to advertising. But it’s his passion project Create Not Hate, first launched in 2007, that is promising real change to the industry. Initially, it set out to give inner-city kids a creative outlet, and show them an alternate path beyond gang membership – Robinson himself from a similar background. It became much more: a mentorship scheme partnering with leaders from the ad world to give underrepresented young people a chance at a creative career.

That was 13 years ago, yet the problems of diversity in a predominantly white sector remain far from solved. So, powered by the momentum of the recent Black Lives Matter movement and promises made by agencies and studios across the creative industry, Robinson’s initiative has been relaunched for 2020. Kicking off with partners from Havas, Grey, Cheil, The Red Brick Road, Ridley Scott Creative Group, Engine and Lively Agency, and hoping to attract plenty more, the Create Not Hate programme hopes address the lack of diversity in the sector by attracting, supporting and connecting diverse young talent. In a statement, the team highlights the multifaceted benefits of diversity across the creative process saying that by “tapping into the creativity of young marginalised people – the ones who can best express and relate to these issues [of racial injustice] – the initiative hopes to bring about real change”.

“I first launched Create Not Hate in 2007 to open the eyes of black inner-city school kids to their creative potential,” says Robinson. “13 years later, profound inequalities in society, and the issue of the lack of diverse talent in our industry, remain unresolved. The time is right to re-launch this initiative to promote positive change, and I invite people across the industry to get behind it.”

The scheme will offer training in all aspects of the advertising creative process, from idea generation to production, and offer open briefs to inspire young creative people to submit ideas and work on real projects. Participants will also receive mentorship from the likes of Laura Jordan Bambach, CCO of Grey London, Malcolm Poynton, Cheil Worldwide Global CCO, Matt Davis, co-owner of The Red Brick Road, and Vicki Maguire, CCO of Havas London. Maguire says that Trevor Robinson is “the person who encouraged me into advertising when he was at HHCL and I worked in the office next door as a designer at Ted Baker. I felt like an outsider and Trevor encouraged me to own that.”

The initiative is also working with Debate Mate, which has an established network of young people through its school debate programme and experience in youth mentoring schemes. Debate Mate will provide communication training and peer-to-peer mentorship for those participating in Create Not Hate. The agency is also running workshops with youth outreach programmes in south London.

Create Not Hate urges more partners who are interested in supporting the cause to get in touch. “To make this project viable and sustainable, it needs agencies, media owners, brand owners, production companies and people in all facets of the creative sector to sign up and offer either their time, creativity, donations or resources. Get in touch by emailing: info@createnothate.org