The Creative Youth Nurture Fund supports cultural, artistic and creative engagement for, and led by, young people. It provides funding to individuals and organisations that work with young people from diverse backgrounds, with a particular focus on those who experience disadvantage or face barriers to accessing creative and cultural opportunities. These projects aspire to empower these young people to engage in activities that can nurture their creative passions and ignite their creative potential.

This year’s funding also includes a number of Shared Island cross-border projects that will bring young people together from across the island through creativity.

Welcome to my World: Voice Beyond Words

Led by Atlantic Technological University, this project explores how patterns in nature can become a source of expression for non-speaking neurodivergent children. Through artist-led activities in community garden spaces, children will communicate through movement and sensory experiences while shaping creative activities that respond to their needs. This sensory setting allows for meaningful engagement and participation for non-speaking neurodivergent children whose voices live in action, movement and repetition. The project is motivated by a desire to gain a deeper appreciation of communication preferences and the hidden abilities, strengths and talents of the non-speaking autistic community.

Isle of Song: The Sequel

Following the success of ‘Isle of Song’ in 2025, Music Generation Laois will support young musicians aged 14–20 to continue developing their musical creative practice through ‘Isle of Song: The Sequel’. Participants will have access to mentoring, rehearsal spaces, recording opportunities, workshops, industry supports and live performance experiences. The programme now includes a Youth Advisory Group that will help shape the programme’s creative development.

Magic of ME

Led by Creative Places Mac Uíllíam, this theatre and animation programme will work with children from West Tallaght, prioritising the participation of those from Traveller, refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds, as well as families affected by addiction. Through theatre, animation and creative writing, participants will work with artists to create original illustrated stories inspired by their imagination, identity and lived experience. The programme will culminate in a published book and a live installation capturing and celebrating the work of the participants.

Made of Words

Inspired by ordinary language philosophy, ‘Made of Words’ led by Draíocht, Blanchardstown, originates from the idea that everyday speech reveals how we think, feel and make sense of the world. The words young people use every day, including slang, memes and private jokes, are rich with meaning and insight. Working with professional artists, philosophers and youth workers, participants will explore the language they use to transform their experiences into original creative work. The project will culminate in a co-designed publication featuring participants’ poems, texts and visual artworks, alongside a spoken-word event in Draíocht’s Black Box Studio.

Music in Mind Youth Programme

The National Concert Hall’s ‘Music in Mind Youth Programme’ will continue to support young people experiencing, or at risk of, mental health difficulties through trauma-informed singing and percussion workshops. Delivered in partnership with youth and community organisations, the programme uses youth-led, collaborative music-making to build confidence, social connection and self-expression in a safe supportive environment.

South Dublin County Creative Communities

Delivered by SoFFt Productions in partnership with NOISE Music, this 18-month programme will support young people aged 14–20 who face barriers to creative participation. Over the course of the project, participants will engage in music production, DJing, digital composition, songwriting, event production and performance. Participants will develop creative skills while also playing a central role in shaping the project as it develops, from working on creative development and audience engagement, to production planning and technical operation.

The Ministry of Children

Led by The Model in Sligo, this project gives young people aged 12-16 the opportunity to work with acclaimed artists Bob & Roberta Smith, to explore issues that matter to them through art. The project encourages young people to see art not only as a form of self-expression but also as a way of questioning, communicating and participating in the world around them. Together they will create public artworks, slogans and creative pieces that encourage social discussion. These pieces will be shown at a co-created exhibition at The Model at the end of the programme.

Shared Island Projects

Release the Letter I Would Never Send

Delivered by Crisis Café in Newry in partnership with Boomerang Café Youth Café in Drogheda, this cross-border project will bring young people aged 11-24 together through creative writing, poetry, ceramics and other artforms, to explore identity, belonging and emotional wellbeing. Through these mediums, participants will be encouraged to reflect on the concept of ‘the letter they would never send’ – the words, thoughts and feelings they might not feel able to express. Participants will also co-create a final sculpture representing their shared experiences, collective voices and vision for connection across borders.

Living Legends 2

Building on the success of the original ‘Living Legends’ project, Narrative 4, RCITY Belfast and Festival in a Van will bring together young people from Limerick and Belfast for ‘Living Legends 2’; a cross-border project exploring identity, heritage and belonging. Through workshops and residential exchanges, participants will engage in storytelling, music, visual art and performance, to explore shared homeplace, landscape, folklore and local history while creating original work and building connections.  A Youth Advisory panel will also help shape the programme, welcoming and mentoring new and younger peers. The programme will culminate in a summit and a launch of a collection of the participants’ creative work including an anthology, a short film and collaborative artworks.

Man Made

Led by the Irish Architecture Foundation, in partnership with Rialto Youth Project in Dublin and Antrim, and Newtownabbey East Area Project in Belfast, ‘Man Made’ will engage boys and young men aged 15-20 to creatively explore their relationship with masculinity and their home place through an architectural lens. Architecture acts as a powerful artform for understanding our environments and for enabling young people to shape how their places are seen, felt and imagined. Participants will work together with architects, youth workers and artists from IAF gapLab, Asbestos and Jan McCullough.

New Narratives

Delivered by Fighting Words CLG, Fighting Words Northern Ireland and Graffiti Theatre Company, ‘New Narratives’ is a creative writing project that aims to nurture an increased sense of belonging and connection by bringing young people with a shared interest in playwriting together, who would not have otherwise met. Participants aged 15-18 across ten groups will participate in residential gatherings and a series of creative writing and playwriting workshops across Ireland to write their own original play. These plays will be staged professionally in theatres, and a public anthology will bring together writing from participants all over the island at the end of the project.

Stitched Voices: A Shared Island Youth Textile Programme

Led by Inspiring Yarns, ‘Stitched Voices’ encourages young people to explore identity, community and belonging using textile art and collaborative creative practice. Four groups of participants aged 11-20 across Down and Cavan will take part in textile workshops and come together collectively in shared-island gathering days. Over the course of the project, eight large-scale collaborative textile installations will be produced and publicly exhibited through touring presentations across both jurisdictions along with a digital archive that will include a youth-led podcast series and video content documenting the programme.

Narrative Power

Led by Verbal Arts Centre and partners, ‘Narrative Power’ brings together young people aged 12-14 from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland who are in, or at risk of, involvement with the youth justice system. The project creates opportunities for these young people to discover the power of their own voice through storytelling. Six groups across Ireland will meet through a series of workshops and residential experiences using spoken word, audio production, podcasting and creative writing to develop original work. This project will culminate in a youth produced anthology, podcast series and two public showcases at Clondalkin library and Derry Central Library to celebrate their creativity and connection.