BloomChild

A group of young people stand in a circle with facilitators in a grassy area. They are surrounded by trees.

The GAFF is delighted to announce that its new project for 2026, BloomChild, has been awarded €16,000 from the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal grants by Community Foundation Ireland.

BloomChild will deliver creative programmes for children combining theatre, nature and visual art. Young people attending youth clubs at Southill Hub and Nicholas Street Youth Space in Limerick city will take part in drama activities over the coming year, alongside a series of gardening workshops. Participants will plant flowers in the first months of the programme, then harvest them to create natural inks from what they have grown. Through visual art workshops, they will combine their inks with sustainable materials to create original artworks. These artworks will be exhibited in June 2027 alongside a performance to celebrate and showcase the programme.

BloomChild aims to give participants new spaces in which to create and play. In high-density housing developments, young people we have spoken to have repeatedly asked for time to be ‘free’ and to connect with friends in a relaxed, outdoor space. We believe that BloomChild can help young participants find these freedoms by being allowed to immerse themselves in the relaxing activity of planting, growing flowers and sharing their work with family and friends through performance and exhibition.

We are extremely grateful to the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal for making BloomChild possible, and we look forward to working with our colleagues in the communities of Southill and St. Mary’s over the coming year.