In October 2020, Kids’ Own facilitated a series of online creative workshops with young people in County Sligo to raise awareness about the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty on the 17th of October. The group worked with Kids’ Own associate artist Vanya Lambrecht Ward and writer Mary Branley to think about and discuss issues of poverty, particularly in their own local area while making global connections. The young people then responded creatively by writing and drawing, taking action by writing letters to people in their schools, communities, and government, outlining their concerns. They wrote using calligraphy ink and paper and folded their letters into mini works of art before sending them off to their recipients.

Kids’ Own has created this letter writing template, incorporating some of the participants’ artwork and writing, so that children and young people can be inspired to write letters and take action on issues of poverty, and the many other issues connected with poverty.

You can download and print this template here. Here are the steps to follow!

1. Download and print the template as a double-sided document. You can print it as an A4 document but is even better if you can print it as A3.
2. Write your message in the blank space. You can write to whoever you like, about any issue you think we need to address, including poverty. You could write your letter to someone in your community with responsibility for a particular issue, a leader, teacher, politician, or the president. Maybe you’d like to write a letter to someone who you think is doing something really good for other people or for the world. It’s up to you!
3. Write the address of the person you are writing to in the space left for the address.
4. Follow the folding instructions to make your letter into a beautifully folded envelope!
5. Put a stamp on the letter and send it off!

Here’s the link to the letter template in case you missed it! Thanks to all the young people involved in this project, the Foróige Sligo CRIB Youth Project and Health Café and Sligo Comhairle na nÓg.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection supports this project as part of its funding initiative for the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The views expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.