Opportunity
EPIC, Empowering People in Care, is seeking a Creative Lead for Know Your Rights in Care, a participative arts project with children and young people in care.
The project will enable children to explore their rights and develop innovative ways to communicate children’s rights while in care, resulting in an exhibition and launch of print and digital resources for care-experienced children and young people across Ireland.
Project Overview
The project process will involve facilitated creative workshops that explore children in care’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It will grow the knowledge and capacity of the care-experienced co-creators, and empower them with the skills to design, implement and lead on a creative educational project that will result in a national campaign. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) fund this project, and it will be implemented by EPIC.
Project Description
With the Creative Lead, EPIC will hold a series of facilitated creative workshops designed to deliver human rights education, while simultaneously harnessing the artistic talents of children in care to develop resources for others care-experienced children and young people on their rights. Throughout the project, co-creators from the under 18s EPIC Care Community will have the opportunity to explore their knowledge of human rights, and express their experiences, aspirations, and challenges through various artistic mediums, fostering a sense of community, empowerment, and self-expression.
Project Phases
The successful candidate will work with EPIC’s youth engagement and participation (YEP) team and communications team to agree the parameters of the project process, map existing resources, and identify members for the Project Advisory Group. They will also meet with EPIC Youth Council members for an exploratory session with young people who have left care.
It is envisioned that work will begin on the project in October, and be completed by March or April of 2025:
- Sessions 1-2: Building the Project Team | October 2024
- Session 3: Learning from the Experts | October 2024
- Sessions 4-12: Examining the UNCRC | November 2024 – February 2025
- Project Post-production: Printed resource compilation | March 2025
- Launch: Exhibition, new printed resource, and national campaign | April 2025
Deliverables
- Desk research to inform creative workshops and approaches with focus on children’s rights and participative processes.
- Work with EPIC to identify members for the Project Advisory Group with EPIC. Members of the over 18s EPIC Youth Council will also sit on the Advisory Group.
- Creative workshop development and facilitation with support from EPIC’s YEP team.
- Scriptwriting and storyboarding for the final printed resource.
- Visual artwork that can be utilised for a digital campaign which will be developed by EPIC’s communications team.
- Creation of an exhibition to showcase the project outputs, process, and the voices of the co-creators, with the support of EPIC’s communications team.
- Attend Project meetings as required.
Skills and Expertise
- Proven ability to develop and implement participative creative projects in a related area.
- Experienced in facilitation and assimilating group work into clear workable outputs.
- Ability to present the voice of the child in creative ways.
- Commitment to work in partnership with EPIC and key stakeholders.
- Experience of working in the children’s rights or youth work sector would be an advantage.
- Experience of collaborating with vulnerable communities would be an advantage.
- Applications from creative teams are welcome.
Renumeration
The fixed sum available to the Creative Lead is €11,125. This is a day rate of €250 for a total of 44.5 days. Other expenses related to the project will be administered by EPIC.
Deadline for applications
Friday, 13 September 2024 at 5pm
Application Process
- Cover letter, to include outline of how you would approach this project: maximum 2 pages.
- A link to, or copy of, your portfolio or samples of past work that is similar in content/style or process.
- Resume
- Email your application to communications@epiconline.ie
For more information and to apply click here.
Background Information
EPIC has 25 years of experience working with children in alternative care (foster care, residential care, special care), and we know that they are determined, resilient, and talented young people, who have overcome circumstances many people will never experience. However, some children in care are deeply impacted by the powerlessness they can experience during their care journeys, the sense that their voices aren’t heard or considered in decision making about their care, and the lack of agency and autonomy that results from this.
The care-experienced children and young people with whom EPIC works are clear that the key to overcoming these challenges is empowerment: to know and understand their rights, to develop skills to use their voices to self-advocate, and by developing projects that educate care-experienced children and young people, professionals, and the public.
Knowing their rights empowers care-experienced children and young people to make informed decisions, challenge discrimination, and equips them for the future.
