Young residents aged 16 to 24 living across the boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest are being given a unique opportunity to directly influence the future of East London’s newest cultural destinations. The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum has officially announced the launch of the recruitment process for the next cohort of the V&A East Youth Collective, inviting curious, creative, and passionate individuals to step forward and make their voices heard.
The initiative seeks to answer a fundamental question: What should a museum and collections space look, feel, and sound like for young people in East London? To find the answers, the institution is building a dedicated team of young minds to collaborate closely with the V&A East staff and commissioned practitioners. Together, this collective will work to ensure that the upcoming V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse are welcoming, inspiring, and deeply relevant spaces for the communities that surround them.
Applications for the prestigious programme are scheduled to open on Friday, 16th October 2026, with the application link going live on the museum’s official website on that day. Aspiring participants will have until Sunday, 1st November 2026, at 11:59 pm to submit their applications. For those possessing ideas, strong opinions, and a desire to make a tangible difference in their local community, the institution has made it clear that it is eager to listen.
The Youth Collective is far from a passive advisory board; it is an active, hands-on creative program. Over an intensive eight-month journey, participants will take part in collaborative creative workshops, behind-the-scenes trips, and interactive sessions alongside commissioned practitioners. Members will directly influence how V&A East welcomes visitors, connects with local communities, and reflects the authentic lived experiences of young people in the area. Beyond shaping the museum’s physical and cultural footprint, participants can expect to meet new peers, develop their creative skill sets, and gain invaluable, first-hand insight into professional careers within the broader cultural and heritage sector.
This upcoming iteration of the programme will expand directly upon the vital themes identified by previous Youth Collective cohorts. These foundational topics range from identity, memory, and belonging to place, access, and decolonisation. To tie these complex themes together, the new cohort will be invited to collaboratively explore and share how institutions can effectively embed creative wellbeing and genuine care for young audiences within public museum spaces. This collaborative effort will ultimately culminate in the production of a creative output that will be made publicly available to museum visitors and the wider community.
Designed to be dynamic and responsive, the Youth Collective programme will be tailored to project needs, ensuring that the interests, ideas, and themes emerging naturally throughout the course will continuously shape its direction. The museum envisions the initiative as a genuine learning exchange where co-production sits firmly at the heart of the institution, fostering a dialogue between participants, visiting practitioners, and museum staff alike.
The commitment requires participants to attend 16 in-person evening meetings held on alternating Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in East London. The schedule runs from January through August 2027, kicking off with an initial gathering on Thursday, 14th January 2027, at the V&A East Storehouse. In addition to the regular Thursday evening sessions, members can anticipate occasional weekend activities, cultural trips, and immersive days spent working within the museum environments.
V&A East itself represents a dynamic, two-part cultural destination rooted firmly in the heritage of East London, created as an ambitious new branch of the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum. The destination comprises two distinct sites: the V&A East Museum, located in Stratford, and the V&A East Storehouse, situated near the Stratford Waterfront. Both locations are dedicated to celebrating the act of making, fostering creativity’s power to drive social change, and supporting critical, conceptual learning through hands-on practice.
The V&A East Museum in Stratford has been built collaboratively with young people, focusing heavily on the voices that lead contemporary culture to explore the forces shaping our modern world. Meanwhile, the V&A East Storehouse offers a radically open experience, housing over half a million creative works and collection objects that are publicly accessible to all. Featuring large collection objects and carefully curated displays, the Storehouse invites visitors to immerse themselves in a rich tapestry of stories and narratives designed to resonate with diverse audiences.
To help prospective applicants learn more about the programme, the institution is hosting a special, free public event on Sunday, 18th October, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the V&A East Storehouse. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear directly from alumni of previous V&A East youth engagement programmes and field practitioners. The afternoon will feature networking opportunities, risograph print-making workshops, short film screenings, and engaging panel talks.
The search is on for 12 young people who genuinely reflect the rich diversity of East London and who meet the programme’s eligibility criteria, including having the legal right to work in the UK for payment purposes. Anyone with questions regarding the application process or the programme structure is encouraged to reach out to the engagement team via email. As the countdown to October begins, V&A East remains committed to ensuring that the next generation of East Londoners sits squarely at the heart of everything the cultural destination does next.