This document summarizes a project involving Culture and Wellbeing in York that used arts and culture to promote wellbeing. It involved several arts organizations and a university center. With help from consultants, they developed an understanding of commissioning, built commissioner relationships, and devised a way to communicate how arts can contribute to wellbeing. This resulted in identifying six ways that culture can promote wellbeing. The project found that arts helped increase independence, communication skills, and saved someone's life. It is now developing additional programs involving drama, arts access, singing, and sensory environments. The work faces challenges around budgets, complex health landscapes, and being seen as difficult to understand, but has advantages of collaboration and health/wellbeing priorities.

1. Culture and
Wellbeing in York
Michael Turnpenny
Marion Gibbon

2. • Three Arts Council England NPOs
• One University affiliated centre for practice
and research
• One Arts Council England MPM
• One Community Benefit Society
• The Cultural Partnership

3. With our consultant’s help, we
• developed an understanding
of the commissioning
landscape
• built a relationship with our
commissioners
• discussed how we might meet
the needs of commissioners
• devised a clear and simple
way to communicate what the
arts and culture can do
The result was -
• Six Ways to Wellbeing
through Culture
What do we offer?

4. What inspires us?
Paula has become much more independent during the project. She never
leaves the house so it’s great that she could go somewhere else and socialise
with people.
(York Explore)
Music is the key to communicating. It’s not just me - family, people who work
with him have said this year that he’s really trying to sign and they can’t
believe the amount that he’s trying to speak as well. I sincerely believe it’s
these sessions he’s coming to and being with other people and having a role
model, seeing other people communicating with each other – I think that’s
had a really big impact on him.
(Accessible Arts and Media)
I just feel like this has saved my life – I don’t know where I’d be without this
music and this group.
(National Centre for Early Music)

5. Slide title
Lorem ipsum

6. Slide title
Lorem ipsum

7. Health and wellbeing in York
• Starting Well – children,
young people and
maternal health
• Living Well – adults
making healthier choices
• Working Well – workplace
health
• Ageing Well – older
people
• Health protection and
statutory functions

8. • April 2016 – September 2017 Cultural Commissioning Trial
• Partners: Culture & Wellbeing in York, CYC Public Health, BBC,
Two Ridings Community Foundation and others
• Robust qualitative evaluation – York St John University
• The following strands are in development -
• Bringing Drama Home – carers and residents co-curating
webcast and livestreamed theatre
• Culture on Wheels – voluntary drivers assisting access to arts
• Up for Arts – promoting arts participation through local radio
• Come and Sing! – addressing mental health through social
singing
• Culture Discovery Hub – reducing barriers to access through
mentoring
• Interactive Multi-Sensory Environments – therapeutic arts
What comes next?

9. What challenges do we face?
• Responsibilities are increasing
while budgets are shrinking
• CCG, social care and public
health geographies are complex
• Cultural sector is not seen as
‘easy to understand’ by others
• The ‘comfort zone’ is doing
things the way we always have
• Wellbeing outcomes are long
term but investment is short-
term

10. What’s in our favour?
• Shared wish to develop new ways
of achieving our aims
• Partners have diverse but
complementary skills and
experience
• Greater coherence of health sector
and local authority responsibilities
• Health and wellbeing at centre of
Council agendas
• Collaboration is something we feel
we are good at

11. Thank you!