The Arts and Minds programme, now in its second year, supports health boards to expand and embed their work with artists and art organisations and embed creative activities in mental health services.

New parents, health workers, and children with eating disorders are among those to benefit from fresh funding awarded to Wales’ seven health boards this World Mental Health Day.

It’s the second round of funding from the ‘Arts and Minds’ programme, which was launched last year by the Arts Council of Wales and the Baring Foundation, amid mounting evidence of the benefits of the arts on health and wellbeing.

In the past year, Arts and Minds funding has supported a variety of projects supporting people across Wales with poor mental health. Successes include, but are not limited to, enabling new mums and dads with moderate to severe mental health conditions, such as depression or psychosis, to forge long-term friendships through an Arts and Minds project in Blaenau Gwent; healthcare workers in Swansea attending bespoke arts workshops designed to help support their mental health, particularly following the pandemic and the impact that had on staff; extremely vulnerable patients on stroke and brain injury wards in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan accessing music and movement sessions that have supported their rehabilitation; and children and young adults with eating disorders in West Wales finding inspiration, relaxation and solace through face-to-face and remote arts activities, such as animation and aerial dance.

Sally Lewis, Programme Manager for Arts, Health and Wellbeing at Arts Council of Wales, said: “ It’s been great to see the health boards devising such imaginative activities to help improve the lives of people living with mental health conditions in Wales.

“The needs around mental health are significant and new approaches take time to embed. But, the message from patients is loud and clear: creative experiences are a vital part of supporting mental health and wellbeing, and clinicians and artists are listening and responding. We are delighted to be working closely with the Baring Foundation on Arts and Minds and are excited to see the impact of the next round of funding for people across Wales.”

After a successful first year, each of the health boards has now successfully applied for additional funding to continue expanding and embedding their work with artists and arts organisations. The latest round of £200,000 funding will again be shared equally between each health board to allow them to build on their various successes during the past 12 months. The project is supported by the National Lottery – thanks to its players, more than £30 million goes to good causes across the UK every week, making vital projects like these possible.

END   10 October 2022

Notes to editors:
 

Details of the projects supported in this second round of the ‘Arts and Minds’ fund can be seen below:

Aneurin Bevan UHB

Parent Infant Mental Health Arts Project. Creative activities to support parental identity and attachment between parent and child, focusing on parents with postnatal depression and psychosis.

Betsi Cadwalladr UHB

Supporting the mental health of male prisoners experiencing mental health problems, who cannot complete part or all of their sentence in a usual prison environment, through creative activities.

Cardiff and Vale UHB

Young Arts for Change. Creative activities to support young people and young adults’ mental health and wellbeing through arts-on-prescription and social prescribing initiatives.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB

Creativity for Mental Health. Developing the role of arts for wellbeing within mental health services, building towards a community arts social prescribing framework.

Hywel Dda UHB

Art Boost. An arts programme improving the wellbeing of children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions, who are awaiting or receiving interventions, through arts activities.

Powys THB

Creative activities to support people experiencing poor mental health, focusing on substance misuse, self-harm, suicide prevention and support for those bereaved following suicide.

Swansea Bay UHB

Sharing Hope. An arts-based programme supporting the mental wellbeing of staff, particularly those who have experienced trauma.



About Arts Council of Wales

The Arts Council of Wales is the country’s official public body for funding and developing the arts. Every day, people across Wales are enjoying and taking part in the arts. We help to support and grow this activity. We do this by using the public funds that are made available to us by the Welsh Government and by distributing the money we receive as a good cause from the National Lottery. By managing and investing these funds in creative activity, the Arts Council contributes to people’s quality of life and to the cultural, social and economic wellbeing of Wales.

About the Baring Foundation

The Baring Foundation is an independent foundation which protects and advances human rights and promotes inclusion. Since 2020, the Foundation has focused its Arts programme on creative opportunities for people with mental health problems. We regularly publish research, including Creatively Minded and the NHS: An overview of participatory arts offered by the NHS to people with mental health problems. www.baringfoundation.org.uk