Áit Eile: A New Exciting Creative Arts Hub for Young People living with mental health difficulties

The aim of this collaborative project is to co-produce and develop a new creative arts hub for 13- to 18-year-olds in counties Louth and Meath. The Áit Eile steering group at Creative Spark was recently informed of their successful funding from the Creative Ireland Nurture Fund, a new initiative from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Last week Minister Catherine Martin announced the Áit Eile project were one of nine successful recipients nationally.  This pilot Creative Youth Nurture Fund was established to allow children from too often seldom heard cohorts to develop creative projects that can nurture their creative passions and ignite their creative potential.

This project will support young people with mental health difficulties attending local CAMHS services and will facilitate the opportunity for them to work with professional artists from a wide variety of sectors to learn new skills and help their overall wellbeing, happiness and sense of belonging in their own communities.  Throughout the project the team will provide an innovative welcoming and creative space for participants to voice and express themselves through art. Through engagement with professional artists in regular art projects occurring weekly during school term time, young people will explore creative activities such as product and brand design, mural painting, print making, sculpture and many other artistic mediums, to be decided upon by the young people themselves.

The initial steps will see the establishment of a young people’s Ambassador Group at the hub’s HQ in Creative Spark Dundalk. This Ambassador group of young people will work alongside the staff team in designing how Áit Eile will be developed, produced, and programmed over the two-year duration of the fund. A new monthly artist in-residence drop-in programme will also be delivered across Louth Meath CAMHS to help build relationships that will assist and support more young people attending CAMHS services to get involved in the artistic projects happening at Creative Spark.  The team’s proposal was greatly informed by work carried out with young service users during a previous Spark funded programme ‘What Matters To You CAMHS?’ in which staff learnt that having a good consistent relationship with the person you are working with is of key importance to young people. The programme will offer attendees and past attendees of Louth Meath CAMHS services the opportunity to learn new skills, build friendships and express themselves through creative means.

The Áit Eile team believe this project will reduce overall feelings of isolation and marginalisation that can so often be a part of young peoples’ lives. The project team is looking forward to starting work with the young people to both establish and develop this exciting project over the next two years.