Arts Council of Wales awards £300,000+ to 9 projects from new Arts and Health fund

The Arts Council of Wales has awarded £324,572 to 9 projects across all parts of Wales from its new Arts, Health and Wellbeing fund.

The Arts, Health and Wellbeing fund is a new National Lottery fund designed to support high-quality creative projects that deliver health and wellbeing benefits for the people of Wales. It is open to applications from organisations working together across the arts, health, social care and third sectors.

Commenting today, Arts Council of Wales Chair, Phil George said:

“Thanks to National Lottery players, and the money they raise each week for good causes, we’ve been able to create this new fund which supports innovative responses to opportunities in arts, health and wellbeing. This is an area that is becoming increasingly important to the health sector and is a strategic priority for the Arts Council of Wales. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to take a step forward with this first round of awards to some really exciting partnership projects.”

Arts and Health lead and Arts Council Portfolio Manager, Sally Lewis also said:

“We were thrilled by the wealth of imaginative proposals submitted to our new fund and are delighted to be able to support nine excellent projects in all parts of Wales. The projects respond creatively to a range of current health challenges including a singing and breathing project to support people recovering from long Covid; song-writing workshops for people experiencing poor mental health and loneliness; outdoor art activities for people processing loss and bereavement and a lullaby project for isolated new mothers and babies.

“We received 26 partnership applications for the first round of this fund in May, with the total request of £815,787 and number of good ideas far exceeding the available funds of £300,000. It highlights the growing interest in how the arts can contribute to improving people’s health and wellbeing in new and meaningful ways.”

END                                                   20 July 2021

Notes to editors:

The 4 headline priorities for this fund are:

1) supporting better mental health and wellbeing through the arts;

2) tackling health inequalities

3) supporting improved physical health following the pandemic and

4) supporting the wellbeing of staff (both within the arts and health sectors)

Applications had to demonstrate:

• Genuine partnerships and collaboration between arts organisations and health partners
• A clear shared purpose around tackling a relevant health challenge
• An artistically vibrant proposition at the heart
• Clearly intended outcomes and benefits for the participants / patients
• A strong learning and evaluation plan underpinning the project with clear questions that the partners want to explore through the project
• Potential for the model to be grown / scaled / sustained
• Potential for the project to have a wider impact on systems across health / the arts / wider sector benefits.

The Nine projects awarded grants from the Arts, Health and well-being fund are as follows:

For more information please contact:
Arts Council of Wales press office 029 2044 1344 / 1307