Impact Investment and the Art of Wellbeing

There is growing awareness of the powerful link between creativity and culture, and improved health and wellbeing, as exemplified in a major study from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) last autumn.

At Figurative, we’ve seen first-hand how our strategic impact investment can transform arts and cultural organisations’ ability to deliver health and wellbeing initiatives.

Inspired by this week’s Creativity and Wellbeing Week – an annual initiative led by the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance and London Arts and Health – we wanted to shine a spotlight on the remarkable impact of the creative health sector across the UK.

Here are just a few examples of the brilliant health and wellbeing projects across the UK that Figurative has proudly supported:

• Hoot Creative Arts – we worked with the arts and mental health charity based in Huddersfield to help it extend its Music in Criminal Justice settings beyond its community in the North of England.
• South East Dance – our loan supported the development of a multipurpose dance studio in Brighton. Its community development programmes have a strong health and wellbeing focus, to address, isolation, substance abuse and falls prevention, such as its Dance to Health programme for older adults.
• Key Changes – we helped Key Changes, who work to bring music programmes to those struggling with mental health, to expand their award-winning music engagement and recovery programmes across health and community-based settings across the country.
• Project Art Works – our loan enabled Project Art Works to purchase a neighbouring Victorian school building and adjoining house in Hastings, allowing them to expand their child and adult social care services.
• Saffron Hall – our investment enabled the music hall in Essex to run more programmes including music therapy for people living with dementia and their carers.

If your organisation is interested in working with the healthcare sector, we have a short webinar, produced when Figurative was part of Nesta, available which is a great introduction.

You can also visit the Culture Health & Wellbeing Alliance which has some excellent resources available too.

If you want to ask us about our open investment funds in relation to a health and wellbeing project, contact us on hello@figurative.org.uk