Carlow County Council Arts Office and Creative Ireland Carlow are delighted to present this creative care gift pack. We understand that these are challenging times for us all. We sincerely hope that however people choose to use this pack it brings them joy, gives them a time to reflect, have fun and offer a much-needed creative distraction.

We have worked with wonderful Carlow creatives Paul Byrne, Ally Nolan, Fiach Moriarty, Dave Barron, Eimear Cheasty and the young writers of County Carlow Youth Theatre who have helped us to design and develop this pack with our community in mind. We are aware that not everyone has access to on-line platforms and as regulations tighten, our theatres, concert venues and galleries have had to close. However, as we stay safe and stay close to home we appreciate now more than ever the enormous benefits that arts have on our lives. Whether you love watching movies, listening to music, painting, playing an instrument, singing, dancing or making, creative activities are a wonderful way to connect, giving us a sense of belonging and wellbeing. Creativity also offers us an outlet to make sense of the world we live in enhance our sense of wellbeing.

Our Creative Care Packs designed especially for this project contain creative crafts, a creativity journal, a positive mental health guide book, postcards, a specially commissioned CD all packed up in a beautiful reusable bag. These packs will be sent out to those in our community who are cocooning.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.