Creative Hubs: Meeting Young People Where They Are At
Creativity is a human right.
Creativity exists in all of us.
Creative Hubs
Young people in rural communities consistently tell us that access matters. They want opportunities to create, and connect close to where they live.
Creative Hubs were developed in response.
Rooted in the communities they serve, each Hub is free to access, creating a sustained, welcoming space where young people can express themselves and build confidence through creativity.
Rather than expecting young people to travel in search of creative opportunities, the Hubs bring artists and creative possibilities into the places where young people live.
Grounded in the Lundy Model of Participation, every Hub grows with the young people who shape it.
Each Hub reflects the character of its own community.
What makes the Creative Hubs powerful is not a single programme or event, but the relationships these Hubs build over time. Young people know they can return and strengthen their creative confidence, or try something new.
Abbeyfeale
As one of the longest-established Creative Hubs, Abbeyfeale shows what can happen when creative opportunities are sustained over time. Through a valued partnership with Music Generation County Limerick and Coláiste Íde agus Iosef, young people have found space to develop their creativity and strengthen their connection to both school and community.
Kilmallock
In Kilmallock, a collaboration with Friars Gate Theatre opens the doors of a professional cultural venue to local young people. Workshops, creative camps and multidisciplinary projects introduce participants to new artforms, often giving them their first experience of creating and performing on a professional stage.
Loop Head Peninsula
On the Loop Head Peninsula, the Creative Shed, developed with West Clare Family Resource Centre, offers something distinctive. Within workshops, young people have the freedom to follow their own ideas, experiment and create at their own pace. It is a space that values independence as much as collaboration.
Together, these Creative Hubs highlight what is possible when creativity is rooted in place.
They respond to rural isolation by creating lasting opportunities for young people to have their creativity respected and valued.
They are helping to shape communities where creativity is not an occasional experience, but an everyday part of growing up.
Creative Partnerships
Partnerships help to make sustained creative engagement possible through Creative Hubs.
Artists, youth services, Family Resource Centres, schools, cultural organisations, families and communities all play a role in creating the conditions where young people feel welcome and valued.
At the centre of every Hub is a network of local professional artists and creative practitioners. They share practice and skills, often becoming mentors and trusted figures who show that creativity is lived and valued in everyday life.
Inclusive Creative Communities
The next stage of this work is the continued development of Inclusive Creative Hubs across Limerick and Clare.
This will strengthen access for children and young people with additional support needs through accessible environments, sensory supports, inclusive design and the involvement of specialist artists and creative practitioners.
By removing barriers to participation, Creative Hubs continue to widen access to creative experiences while ensuring that every young person is welcomed, and supported to express their creativity.
Holistic Creativity
At the heart of the Limerick and Clare Local Creative Youth Partnership is the recognition of a fundamental fact: every child and young person has the right to express themselves creatively and have their creativity valued.
Across Limerick and Clare, we are working towards a region where creativity is recognised as part of everyday life, and where opportunity is not determined by geography, circumstance or ability.
Creativity is not something introduced from the outside.
It is already here.
Our responsibility is to make space for it.
