Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has announced that £5m will be invested in a range of projects to create more than 600 new jobs in the cultural, creative and sport sectors through the government's Future Jobs Fund.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has confirmed funding to help Creative and Cultural Skills create 200 new positions in cultural organisations and community venues, such as theatres and live music venues, across the country. More than 140 jobs will be created by English Heritage in a bid to help digitise 30,000 historic images of Wiltshire for educational use, while 31 positions will be made available in the London Borough of Newham working for performing arts venues. A further 51 jobs are to be created at the National Association of Clubs for Young People.

A total of 200 new jobs will also be created across the West Midlands region, co-ordinated by the Skills Partnership and contributing towards regional Olympic legacy targets by working with School Physical Activity Co-ordinators. The latest announcement forms part of the DCMS' commitment to provide 10,000 jobs for young people - 5,000 in sport and 5,000 in culture - as part of the Department for Work and Pensions' bid to establish 120,000 positions across England and Wales for 18-24-year-olds who have been unemployed for six months.

Bradshaw said: "These are great jobs - jobs in sectors that can be really tough to break into, that are usually the preserve of better-off children whose parents have the contacts to get them a foot in the door. "This £5m announcement will ensure that help goes where it is really needed, to young people who might otherwise be in danger of falling into long term unemployment. By getting people into skilled work we are investing in future generations."