This page is dedicated to resources, news, research, and insights to help those of you working with young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will be creating our own original content and will be sharing information from sister organisations and reputable sources only.
We are updating this page regularly. Last Update: 12 January 2021
LATEST GUIDANCE
Following updated guidance issued by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) on Jan 5th, all youth theatres affiliated to Youth Theatre Ireland should move exclusively to remote delivery of activities during the current period of restrictions.
The supplemental measures described in the Jan 2021 DCEDIY letter, 'Re: Guidance for DCEDIY funded youth services and organisations in light of the current public health restrictions' are over and above the Level 5 restrictions set out in the published Guidance for Youth Work Organisations, which is not expected to be updated during the current restrictions. Please note that the DCEDIY Jan 2021 letter does outline some circumstances where the delivery of essential, 'in-person', youth work support for at-risk or vulnerable young people or young people in crisis can continue during the current restrictions and lists some guidance for that type of service delivery.
The above DCEDIY guidance supercedes Youth Theatre Ireland's 'Back in the Circle: Guidance On Operating Affiliated Youth Theatres under COVID Public Health Measures' (2020) which was based on DCEDIY's published 'Guidance for Youth Work Organisations' (2020).
Thinking optimistically about the coming year, youth theatres may still wish to access Youth Theatre Ireland resources designed to support the process of delivering 'in-person' work with young people whenever it is allowed again by public health measures:
We have updated our sample membership forms to include a question around COVID-19.
Useful Guidance and Links
- Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY)
DCEDIY Jan 2021 Letter - Re: Guidance for DCEDIY funded youth services and organisations in light of the current public health restrictions'
- Government of Ireland
You can view the Government's latest information on Coronavirus and government measures here.
- HSE
You can access the HSE's information and guidance on COVID-19 here.
CHILD PROTECTION AND WELFARE
Garda Vetting
Our Garda Vetting Service Reopened on 27 April 27 2020 for all your vetting requirements. As the situation with COVID-19 is ongoing and many of you are working online with your groups, we want to be able to support you to the fullest at this time and so have relooked at how best we can reinstate the vetting service.
Safety Tips for Working with Young People Online
Due to current circumstances, we all find ourselves working remotely and communicating a lot more online with young people has become the new norm. Youth Theatre Ireland have issued guidance on working safely online to affiliate youth theatres, which you'll find below. Some helpful tips are summarised in the document below for general use.
#YOUTHTHEATRETUESDAYS
An initiative of Youth Theatre Ireland, #YouthTheatreTuesdays was instituted in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 health emergency, as a way for the youth theatre community to stay connected and share practice during the lockdown. At each meeting, youth theatre leaders come together via Zoom to share ideas, insights, and inspirational ways to keep their programmes on track in an online space. The notes from these meetings are below. Please note that they are more of an aid memoire rather than an extensive write up of any exercise or idea.
What is digital youth work?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital youth work has been accelerated and in many contexts being explored for the very first time. It is a means of proactively using or addressing digital media and technology in youth work. Digital youth work is not a youth work method, but it can be included in any youth work setting (open youth work, youth information and counselling, youth clubs, detached youth work, etc.).
The European Guidelines for Digital Youth Work have been designed to clearly define Digital Youth Work, its impact, and the value of youth work as an important educational practice which can empower young people in a digitalising society. The Guidelines can be found below.
SEEYN-South East European Youth Network is a network organization. Their "vision is to create a place where youth worker, trainer, educator, young person, or anyone curious about anything digital connected with youth work and non-formal education, could find theoretical and practical inputs about the topics." SEEYN’s Digi Youth Portal is available below and offers everything you ever wanted to know about online learning and digital tools in Youth Work.
Skill IT. Digital Pathways for Youth Work. The Skill IT for Youth project is a European initiative aiming to increase the quality of youth work, combining higher levels of excellence and attractiveness in services, obtained through the digitalisation of youth work, with increased opportunities for young people. The Training Toolkit for Youth Workers & Educators to Deliver Digital Skills to Young People may be especially useful and can be found here.
Youth trainer Dan Moxon has collated padlet.com, an open resource to share tools, tips and practices on online youth work and participation. There are lots of very interesting resources to check out, which can be found here.
OTHER RESOURCE ORGANISATIONS
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is the representative body for voluntary youth organisations in Ireland. Their dedicated COVID-19 Support and Resources Page can be found below.
Youth Theatre Arts Scotland has built a dedicated page around supporting youth theatre and youth arts workers there. Visit Youth Theatre Arts Scotland dedicated COVID19 page below. PLEASE NOTE: YTAS is a UK-based organisation so some information and advice around funding, Government Policy, and Public Health is not applicable in the Republic of Ireland.
The Arts Council of Ireland is the Irish government agency for developing the arts. The Arts Council's COVID-19 response page is below.
Theatre Forum’s purpose is to strengthen Ireland’s performing arts community and to advance its interests to ensure a sustainable future. A member-led organisation, their News and Events page can be accessed below for the latest information on COVID-19 and the theatre sector.
The Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a national organisation representing everyone who believes that cultural engagement can transform our health and wellbeing. Their dedicated COVID-19 response page is here. PLEASE NOTE: The Alliance is a UK-based organisation so some information and advice around funding, Government Policy, and Public Health is not applicable in the Republic of Ireland.
ENGAGEMENT
Are you and your members missing their live theatre fix while our venues are dark? We have collected a list of online productions and archives that may be of interest. Some are free, and others are paid services. Please be aware the age appropriateness of any material you share with your members.
Theatre Resources for Isolation has been complied by Ollie Jones and is availble here. Comtans links accross five categories of Read, Watch, Listen, Write and Workshops snd there is something for theatre lovers eveywhere.
Theatre Uncut have provided a Resouce on Creating Digital Theatre here.
National Youth Theatre (England) – Digital work including NYT online auditions, partnership with Tik Tok, Digital Storytelling course etc. and use of digital theatre in productions.
Drama For Youth Work is an innovation project funded under the Key Action 2 of the Erasmus+ programme that aims at creating tools so that youth workers can use drama exercises in their daily work to deal with social inclusion issues. Available here.
The Axis in Ballymun has offered #Axischats, a series of conversations with leading artists. Hosted by Artistic Director Mark O'Brien, includes a conversation with Colin O'Donoghue, who talks about his experiences as a youth theatre member.
Frantic Assembly has some online digital resources around recent productions and videos led by their Associates to help people develop their own physical theatre pieces / warm-ups different things! at home.
Guardian theatre critic Mark Fisher, author of How to Write About Theatre, is offering online theatre criticism workshops for over 18's.