Being creative is one of the cornerstones of wellbeing, according to Everybody Arts in Halifax.
This Mental Health week, the award-winning charity - which has been at the forefront of arts for wellbeing work in West Yorkshire since 2010 - says that making art, no matter your background, ability or circumstance, is crucial for people’s health and happiness.
For the past 15 years, Everybody Arts has facilitated people’s creativity leading to huge impacts on their lives, says Director Lauren Iredale.
“We have seen people recover from traumatic events, overcome serious mental health challenges and enrich their own lives by engaging in creative activity. For some it has literally been life-saving and this is why wellbeing work is at the heart of everything we do,” Lauren commented.
One of the most striking examples of this is the success of the Creative Care programme, delivered by Everybody Arts in partnership with Creative Minds, which last week was awarded with the Best Partner Excellence Award by the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
The programme connects artists with service users in inpatient care in wards across Calderdale and the success has been demonstrated not only because it is award-winning, but also because it has shown to dramatically improve wellbeing of service users and reduce incidences of violence on wards, as identified by this British Medical Journal paper published earlier this year.
“We always knew how important art is to people’s wellbeing, but the Creative Care programme has shown us that art is a powerful healer and is increasingly being recognised by the NHS and other care providers as a crucial part of recovery for many people,” Lauren said.
Everybody Arts has been successful in receiving funding from the Baring Foundation to support a further 500 male service users, and the Pilgrim Trust to deliver the Bloom project, designed to increase young women’s entry into creative-health careers. Partners involved in the delivery of this wellbeing work have also launched a brand new commission to develop content for the new Create and Bloom app.
For people wondering how they can be more creative to improve their health and wellbeing, Everybody Arts runs regular courses and workshops and has a number of resources that can help people get started on their creative journeys:
