Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB) has become the 7th region to launch a Local Creative Youth Partnership (LCYP) in association with the Creative Ireland Programme. The LCYP initiative aims to build a network enabling information sharing and collaboration between CMETB, local authorities, the non-formal education sector, family support services, and youth services. This is an opportunity to forge new partnerships and relationships with the local creative sector in Cavan and Monaghan respectively.

Most importantly, the LCYP will ensure that young people themselves are at the heart of the development and implementation of opportunities to engage with creative-based activities. The objective of LCYP is to provide extracurricular creative activities for children and young people that complement and work with formal school settings in a non-mainstream manner.

Essentially Cavan Monaghan LYCP aims to provide more opportunities for children and young people (aged 0-24 years) to engage with creative activities in out-of-school settings with a particular focus on those that are most marginalised or that experience disadvantage. The remit of the partnerships goes beyond that of the “arts” and includes cultural and creative activity in all spheres – including areas such as heritage and the environment, STEM and digital creativity. The range of activities is limitless – everything from traditional and visual arts to coding and tech; music and opera to circus arts, comedy, street arts & spectacle; architecture & design to heritage; film, drama, theatre or dance to literature and creative writing.

The essence of the LCYP initiative is that all activities, workshops, programmes and events are planned, designed, and led by young people. This will help to support and nurture youth creativity, creative experiences, creative skills, and creative leadership at a local level. Cavan Monaghan LCYP is part of Creative Youth, an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, whose key goal is to facilitate and grow the creative potential of every child and young person.

‘to enable the creative potential of every child and young person’

Cavan Monaghan LCYP promotes several core values throughout all of their work. These include inclusivity, embracing diversity and equality, as well as engaging hard-to-reach children and young people. Cavan Monaghan LCYP aims to work in close partnership with local youth service providers and will follow a child and youth-led methodology in the design, delivery and evaluation of its programmes. The Cavan Monaghan LCYP aims to respond to young people and children’s expressed needs through dialogue and research in line with Hub na nÓg – Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth’s, youth participation unit.

Cavan Monaghan LCYP will operate in line with CMETB’s management, oversight and compliance functions. The LCYP is managed by a full-time Creative Youth Coordinator. It is funded under Pillar 1 Creative Youth of the Creative Ireland Programme, which aims to promote, implement, and sustain a learning ecosystem in which knowledge and creativity are equal partners in the formation of young people. Cavan Monaghan LCYP will receive funding on an annual basis from the Department of Education and Skills under the Creative Ireland programme. Where funds allow, CMETB will also receive funding directly from Creative Ireland (Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media).