Creative community projects to benefit from €85k funding
23 ambitious creative community projects have been funded to the tune of €69,416 in Westmeath, with a further €15,000 allocated to community development.
These projects are supported by Creative Ireland Westmeath. In total, Westmeath County Council will spend over €206,000 on its Creative Ireland programme in Westmeath in 2024.
Projects kicking off in 2024 range from live podcast shows, to samba bands, animation workshops, a women’s art circle and much, much more.
Later this month, creatives of all disciplines will have the opportunity to apply for one of three Creative Practitioner Residencies with a total fund of €26,000 on offer.
Miriam Mulrennan, County Westmeath Arts Officer and Creative Ireland Coordinator said “We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 Westmeath Creative Community Grant. The application process for 2024 was highly competitive, with requests for over €225,000.
"The high quality of submissions reflects the enormous creative capacity to be found in our Westmeath community groups. We look forward to seeing the county’s creative capacity continue to develop through the Creative Ireland programme over the next 4 years,” she said.
Among the successful local projects are Castledaly Captures, a project that will engage young people in a creative activity that they all have access to but may never have considered, The Forget Me Not Choir, a group giving the opportunity for young, old and those with various abilities and needs to come together with the primary focus of singing together and ONE TRIBE, a series of workshops and a show to be performed on the stage of the Dean Crowe theatre by the service users of both St Hilda's special school, Athlone and Rehab Care, Athlone. There will be an age range of service users from 19 to 65.
Another local project will see animation works aimed at local adults and young people who are International Protection applicants, temporary Protection residents of nine accommodation services in the Athlone area and former Direct Provision residents now living in the community.
For more information, check westmeathculture.ie