About Laois and Offaly Local Creative Youth Partnership (LO LCYP)

Established in 2019 Laois and Offaly Local Creative Youth Partnership (LO LCYP) is led by a local steering committee made up of creative and cultural stakeholders, representatives from LOETB Youth Services, Music Generation and our Creative Youth Co-Ordinator Patricia Wallis. There are now 7 Local Creative Youth Partnerships in Ireland with more to follow. You can find out more about Creative Ireland and LCYPs. Local Creative Youth Partnerships (LCYPs) - Creative Ireland Programme.

The leading role of the Laois and Offaly LCYP is to develop and provide out-of-school creative activities and opportunities for children and young people that complement and work with the formal school settings in a non-mainstream manner. Key to the work of Laois and Offaly LCYP is the requirement to identify children and young people’s voices between 10 and 24 years with a special focus on those voices that are considered seldom heard. To help gather their perceived aspirations, requirements and needs to inform the delivery, implementation, and evaluation of creative programmes.

Laois and Offaly LCYP support all creative and cultural activities across multiple fields such as the arts, heritage and the environment, STEM and digital creativity. Everything from traditional and visual arts to coding and tech; music and opera to circus arts, the range of activities is limitless.

The LO LCYP engages with the Department of Children Equality Disability Integration and Youth in developing youth consultation for its area, through advice and guidance from Hub na nÓg, ensuring the unique voices of children and young people of Laois and Offaly play a leading role in how LO LCYP evolves.

A significant role of Laois and Offaly LCYP is to enable information sharing and collaboration between LOETB, local authorities, the non-formal education sector, family support services and youth services. Forging new partnerships and relationships with the local creative sector, non-formal education sector and youth services in an effort to maximise creative opportunities and levels of engagement for children and young people. Laois and Offlay LCYP are instrumental in bringing these sectors together enabling new partnerships for the region focusing on Youth and Creativity.

Funding and support for Laois Offaly Local Creative Youth Partnership: The Department of Education (DoE) and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) are key partners in the delivery of Creative Youth, working in collaboration with the parent department of the plan, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media (DTCAGSM)