Creative Youth Opportunities

Name

Creative Youth Opportunities

Legal name

Creative Youth Opportunities CIC

Website

https://creativeyouthopportunities.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth and community arts education

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (61161), Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (7139), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Visual Arts Instruction (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture) (EDAMAAAA), Arts & Design Camps (Visual Arts, Crafts, Design Thinking) (EDAMALAH)

Keywords

• Community youth arts
• Creative workshops for young people
• School arts commissions
• Nonprofit social enterprise arts
• Public arts exhibitions

Headquarters

HQ city

Seaham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional project grants and funding: CYO is a Community Interest Company (CIC) that funds its activities through grants and commissioned projects from public bodies and charitable foundations. Funding partners include Arts Council England, Historic England, UnLtd, Durham Police Crime Commissioner, and Durham County Council. These grants fund specific creative projects rather than core operating costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Creative Youth Opportunities is a Community Interest Company that runs free weekly creative arts sessions for children and young people aged 7–19 at Park House (Horden) and Shoreside Studios (Seaham), and delivers bespoke commissioned arts projects in schools that culminate in exhibitions, film screenings, and public installations. Activities span visual arts, crafts, film-making, sculpture and performance, supported by institutional grants.

Product overview

Creative Youth Opportunities (CYO) is a community interest company (CIC) and social enterprise that operates as an arts organization working with young people. The organization offers a portfolio of creative programs centered around weekly Creative Youth Groups sessions for ages 7-19, delivered primarily through its flagship facility Park House (opened 2023) in Horden Welfare Park. CYO delivers various art-based community projects spanning exhibitions, installations, and film-making, often in partnership with organizations such as Arts Council England, Historic England, UnLtd, and Durham Police Crime Commissioner. The core offering consists of regular youth sessions plus episodic project work that typically culminates in public exhibitions or installations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Creative Youth Groups Recurring weekly creative arts sessions for children and young people aged 7–19, delivered free of charge Monday to Friday at Park House in Horden and Shoreside Studios in Seaham. Sessions cover drawing, painting, crafts, film-making, sculpture and performance.
• School-based bespoke creative projects Commissioned, project-based creative arts programmes delivered inside primary and secondary schools in County Durham, bringing associate artists into classrooms to work alongside children on outputs such as sculpture, film, and exhibition pieces.
• Exhibitions and public installations Public exhibitions, gallery installations and one-off celebratory events held at venues such as Auckland Castle, Bishops Auckland Town Hall, St Cuthbert's Hospice, and Seaham Town Hall, showcasing the artwork and films created by participating young people.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Auckland ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCYO partnered with The Auckland Project for the Missing Women project — an ambitious exhibition placing 5 two-metre tall portraits in the great hall at Auckland Castle, exploring the women of Jacob's family absent from the Zurbarán paintings.
• St Cuthbert's HospiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCYO partnered with St Cuthbert's Hospice in Durham for the Memories in the Wind 2016 project, creating an outdoor exhibition exploring the lives of people with terminal illness during Dying Matters Week.
• Durham Johnston SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYoung people from Durham Johnston School participated in the Memories in the Wind project, supported by CYO's creative team to research with hospice patients and create celebratory artwork.
• OxHill Youth GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth group that participated in the ASB Video 'A day in the life' project alongside CYO's Horden and Seaham groups.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Create London: A creative education charity running free artist-led workshops in schools and community settings for young people facing disadvantage. Closely mirrors CYO's arts-for-social-change model and school-partnership channel, albeit at larger scale in London.
• Real Ideas: A South West social enterprise delivering creative learning and youth programmes, including in schools and community settings. Mirrors CYO's grant-funded, arts-based youth engagement model with comparable scale and operating geography (regional).
• Ministry of Stories: A charity using creative writing and the arts to engage young people aged 8–18 from low-income communities in London. Directly comparable to CYO in mission (free, creative-arts-based, targeted at disadvantaged youth) and delivery approach (in-person workshops, free at point of use).
• Heart of Glass: A St Helens-based social enterprise using collaborative arts with communities, including young people. Comparable to CYO as a small, North-of-England arts social enterprise combining community work with project-based creative commissions.
• The Mighty Creatives: A UK creative learning charity that delivers arts-based programmes for children and young people, including disadvantaged groups, with similar grant-funded, free-to-participant delivery. Directly comparable in mission, target audience, and funding model to CYO.

Broad incumbents

• Roundhouse: A long-established London youth arts charity offering creative programmes for 11–25 year-olds, including underserved groups. Much larger and London-based, but operates on the same youth-arts-development premise and Arts Council England funding pathway.
• National Youth Theatre: The UK's flagship youth performing-arts organisation, offering free creative pathways to young people aged 14–25 from all backgrounds. Operates the same arts-access mission as CYO but at national scale with significantly larger Arts Council England backing.

Regional players

• ARC Stockton: A North East arts centre running participation and youth programmes alongside venue operations. Comparable to CYO in regional focus on creative engagement with young people, though with a more venue-driven model.
• Live Theatre (Newcastle): A North East England producing theatre with a strong young people's programme, including free workshops and school projects. Regionally adjacent and overlaps with CYO's youth creative practice and school channel.
• Curious Arts: A North East arts charity producing cultural events and creative engagement, including with young people in coastal and post-industrial communities similar to Seaham/Horden. Directly comparable in geography and community-arts brief.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CreativeYouthOpportunities
• Instagraminstagram.com/creativeyouthopportunities_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/creative-youth-opportunities-cic

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creative Youth Opportunities