Press Releases

     

     

    Community creativity: a ‘must-do’ for health and wellbeing

    Press release issued: 1 October 2024

    A national research partnership has received £2.4 million to deliver a programme to build the systems, connections and skills to ensure that people in coastal towns have the best possible access to community cultural and creative resources. We know that creative community organisations, groups and activities greatly benefit our health, but these are not always embedded into health policy and commissioning in local government and the NHS.

    The focus in the South East is on Hastings, which like many coastal towns, has a rich cultural and creative heritage but relatively poor health outcomes. Similar work will be taking place in Weston-super-Mare and Blackpool.

    Professor Lindsay Forbes, Public Health Theme Lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) is leading the South East England arm of the project, with Dr Lucy Selman (University of Bristol) in the South West and Dr Barbara Mezes (University of Liverpool) in the North West. The collaborative team in the South East includes the University of Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, East Sussex County Council, Hastings Borough Council and community organisations.

    We will promote health system change by generating what is needed to embed community creativity:

    • increasing the visibility of creative and community groups and strengthening collaboration and shared purpose between them
    • developing a shared understanding of local inequalities in health and wellbeing across all organisational sectors and the benefits of creative and community groups for health
    • building ways of working between these groups, the NHS and local government
    • enhancing skills and knowledge for creativity in the community and the organisations serving it.

    The team plans to develop a ‘how-to’ guide to embedding creativity into coastal communities and local systems, leading to improved health and wellbeing.

    The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation under Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    Professor Forbes said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity to build the framework that will embed creative community activities into the health system. It is important that cultural and creative activities are recognised as a ‘must-do ‘for health and wellbeing and that the system promotes access to these.’

     

    Good Grief Weston returns to Weston-super-Mare & beyond

    Press release issued: 6 September 2024

    A Festival of Love & Loss, Thursday 10 – Sunday 13 October 2024

    The programme of events takes place in Weston & surrounding areas in North Somerset

    Following the success of last year’s inaugural Good Grief Weston, the festival of love and loss returns to the town in October for its second edition. This year’s event, taking place in Weston-super-Mare from 10 to 13 October, will also see the festival extending to communities in North Somerset in a varied, creative programme that aims to open up conversations around death and bereavement, with honesty, compassion, joy and sometimes with humour. 

    The four-day festival features a wide range of workshops, events and activities from theatre, film, talks, walks, arts & crafts and storytelling to music, cookery, movement, poetry, dance and nature across indoor and outdoor venues in the area. 

    Good Grief Weston is produced by Super Culture in association with the University of Bristol and the Weston-super-Mare Community Network, as part of the national Coastal Community & Creative Health project. The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-led Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    The festival offers a mix of free and pay-what-you-decide events, that are bookable in advance or available as drop-in, participatory sessions. For further information and programme line-up, visit Good Grief Weston and follow @SuperCultureWsM for latest updates.  

    More events are to be announced, including additional workshops in North Somerset and activities at Weston General Hospital. 

    Residents and visitors are invited to come together to explore love and loss in welcoming, inclusive spaces. The festival provides a specially curated range of events and experiences for people to connect, talk and discover new support systems where they live, with safe areas available at events.  

    Good Grief Weston takes its inspiration from the award-winning Good Grief Festival, started in 2020 by Professor Lucy Selman and Dr Lesel Dawson at the University of Bristol. Since its launch the virtual festival has reached over 30,000 people through a programme of free events and its YouTube Channel, The Grief Channel. 

    Professor Selman from the University’s Bristol Medical School said: “We are delighted to bring this unique festival back to the area this year to open up conversations about grief, loss and the end of life. The community response to Good Grief has been amazing to witness, with many heartwarming stories shared of the first Good Grief Weston, and more and more local organisations and individuals keen to get involved this year. The festival offers so many different ways of exploring love and loss – we hope it inspires and entertains, as well as bringing people together and providing support and solace.”

    Fiona Matthews, creative director at Super Culture, added: “This year, Weston General Hospital will be a new centre for some of the Good Grief Weston activity and once again we are partnering with Alliance Homes on seeding new provision that responds to needs out in the community. From further afield, we welcome an inspirational line-up of renowned medics, therapists and writers who are sure to catalyse engrossing conversation, and for a light-hearted and futuristic tone, don’t miss what promises to be an unforgettable Irish wake for Granny Jackson of Graham Road!”

    More information about Super Culture and Good Grief Weston 

    New project to improve community creativity for health and wellbeing in Hastings

    Press release issued: 4 September 2024

    The University of Kent, in collaboration with other organisations, has launched a project to promote involvement in community creative activities, which are known to improve health and wellbeing, for Hastings residents. Hastings has a rich cultural and creative heritage but relatively poor health outcomes.

    Increasing access to creative and cultural community activities will improve health and wellbeing, but people do not always have good access. Public services do not have what they need to promote this access, which includes knowing what creative and cultural activities are available, what they offer and ways of involving members of the public.

    The project is part of a national research partnership which has received £2.4 million to build the connections to ensure that people in coastal towns have the best possible access to community cultural and creative resources. Similar work will be taking place in Weston-super-Mare and Blackpool.

    Professor Lindsay Forbes, based at the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent, is leading the South East England arm of the project, with Dr Lucy Selman (University of Bristol) in the South West and Dr Barbara Mezes (University of Liverpool) in the North West. They lead a collaborative team from universities; councils; Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations; and the NHS.

    Researchers will promote change by:

    • increasing the visibility of creative and community groups and promoting their shared purpose
    • developing a shared understanding of local inequalities in health and the benefits of creative and community groups for health
    • building ways of working between these groups, the NHS and local government
    • enhancing skills and knowledge for creativity in the community and the organisations serving it.

    The team plans to develop a ‘how-to’ guide to embedding creativity into coastal communities and local systems, leading to improved health and wellbeing.

    The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation under Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    Professor Forbes said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity to build the framework that will embed creative community activities into the health system. It is important that cultural and creative activities are recognised as a ‘must-do’ for health and wellbeing and that the system promotes access to these.’

    National partnership to tackle health inequalities in coastal communities awarded £2.4 million

    Press release issued: 15 February 2024

    Blackpool, Weston-super-Mare and Hastings are focus areas under the scheme.

    Image by Paul Blakemore

    A national partnership led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Liverpool has received £2.4 million to tackle health inequalities in coastal communities. The award is one of a number announced today [15 February] by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-led Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    Dr Lucy Selman, Associate Professor from the Centre for Academic Primary Care and Palliative and End of Life Care Research Group at the University of Bristol and a Weston-super-Mare resident, is one of the funding recipients. Together with Dr Barbara Mezes, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Dr Selman is leading a three-year project focused on three coastal areas of England which have significant health inequalities but are rich in community assets: Blackpool, Weston-super-Mare and Hastings.

    Working with local partners

    The project will bring the NHS, local authorities, researchers, voluntary and community organisations and residents together to tackle health inequalities. It will focus in particular on three mental health priority areas in coastal towns: young people’s mental health, substance use, and life-limiting illness and bereavement.

    The Partnership will generate evidence and resources to improve mental health in these focus areas by enhancing and widening access to creative community assets; enhancing the skills and knowledge of people working with these communities; and creating a model of collaborative working across sectors and with community members, to help tackle health inequalities using creative community assets. Co-production with local people with lived experience will run throughout the project.

    The Partnership extends the work of the Weston-super-Mare Community Network, also funded by the AHRC, which, since November 2022, has been uniting diverse stakeholders across North Somerset to tackle inequities in serious illness and bereavement and the social isolation which can result from these universal experiences.

    Dr Selman said: “Coastal communities suffer some of the worst health outcomes in the country, and significant inequities throughout the life course. We are delighted to collaborate with Dr Barbara Mezes and colleagues nationally to expand our work in serious illness and bereavement to benefit other coastal communities, and to widen our focus to include young people’s mental health and wellbeing and substance use – key areas of concern in our communities. We are hugely grateful to UKRI and the AHRC for supporting this project.”

    Dr Mezes said: “I am excited to collaborate with Dr Selman and a very strong team, and grateful for the opportunity. Coastal communities face many challenges, including poverty, but they have many community assets, such as cultural organisations, community centres, and charities working tirelessly to support the wellbeing of local residents. This funding will allow us to work with community partners to better integrate creative community assets into health and social care systems by bolstering cross-sector local and national partnerships. We will generate the evidence base to inform local actions and a national strategy to tackle inequalities, address mental health needs, and improve the wellbeing of people living in our coastal communities.”

    AHRC Health Inequalities Programme Director Helen Chatterjee said: “The evidence is clear – intellectual stimulation, a sense of purpose, engagement in your community and a fulfilling social life are as important as diet, exercise and medical care when it comes to living a long and healthy life. Yet often public health interventions neglect this reality.

    “These funded projects seek to improve the length and quality of our lives by making use of the rich cultural, artistic, nature and social resources that already exist within our communities. In this way, we can shape a healthier, happier Britain.”

    Find out more

    Full list of funded projects

     

    National partnership to tackle health inequalities in coastal communities

    Press release issued: 15 February 2024

    A new project co-led by researchers from the University of Liverpool and the University of Bristol will seek to tackle health inequalities in coastal communities.

    The researchers have been awarded £2.4M through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    Coastal communities suffer some of the worst health outcomes and inequalities in the UK but they are also rich in community assets, such as cultural organisations, community centres, and charities supporting residents’ wellbeing.

    Focusing on three different coastal towns – Blackpool, Weston-super-Mare, and Hastings – the project will bring together the NHS, local authorities, researchers, voluntary and community organisations and residents to see how greater collaboration can tackle health inequalities.

    It will focus in particular on key problem areas in mental health – young people’s mental health, substance use, and life-limiting illness and bereavement – with the aim of improving community-based support. The project will achieve this by bolstering and evidencing the impact of creative community assets and supporting partnership working and integration of creative community assets into health and social care systems.

    The project is co-led by Dr Barbara Mezes, University of Liverpool, and Dr Lucy Selman, University of Bristol.

    Dr Mezes, a lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Population Health said: “I am very excited to collaborate with Dr Selman and a very strong team, and I am  grateful for this opportunity. Coastal communities face many challenges, including poverty, but they have many community assets, such as cultural organisations, community centres, and charities working tirelessly to support the wellbeing of local residents. This funding will allow us to work with community partners across three coastal areas to better integrate creative community assets into health and social care systems by bolstering cross-sector local and national partnerships. We will generate the evidence base to inform local actions and a national strategy to tackle inequalities, address mental health needs, and improve the wellbeing of people living in our coastal communities.”

    Dr Selman, Associate Professor in Palliative and End of Life Care at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Academic Primary Care, said: “Coastal communities suffer some of the worst health outcomes in the country, and significant inequities throughout the life course. We are delighted to collaborate with Dr Barbara Mezes and colleagues nationally to expand our work in serious illness and bereavement to benefit other coastal communities, and to widen our focus to include young people’s mental health and wellbeing and substance use – key areas of concern in our communities. We are hugely grateful to UKRI and AHRC for supporting this project.”

    AHRC Health Inequalities Programme Director Helen Chatterjee said: “The evidence is clear – intellectual stimulation, a sense of purpose, engagement in your community and a fulfilling social life are as important as diet, exercise and medical care when it comes to living a long and healthy life. Yet often public health interventions neglect this reality.

    “These funded projects seek to improve the length and quality of our lives by making use of the rich cultural, artistic, nature and social resources that already exist within our communities. In this way, we can shape a healthier, happier Britain.”

    This is the third phase of the programme, led by AHRC in collaboration with BBSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC, all part of UKRI. Additional funding has come from UKRI’s Building a Secure and Resilient World, and Creating Opportunities, Improving Outcomes strategic themes.

    The programme is also run in partnership with the National Centre for Creative Health.

    Full list of funded projects

    Projects to help communities reduce health inequalities

    Press Release issued: 15 February 2024

    The mobilising community assets to tackle health inequalities programme aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.

    The projects in the mobilising community assets to tackle health inequalities programme seek to tackle entrenched and long-standing health inequalities in some of Britain’s poorest communities. They will do this by exploring how health systems can collaborate more effectively with communities.

    Some of the projects will explore ways of addressing health inequalities in rural and coastal communities. Others will be focused on tackling systems change to support specific communities, including:

    • Roma communities
    • refugees and migrant communities
    • people experiencing homelessness
    • D/deaf British Sign Language (BSL)-using communities
    • children and young people experiencing mental health challenges

    Shaping a healthier, happier Britain

    Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Health Inequalities Programme Director, Professor Helen Chatterjee said:

    The evidence is clear – intellectual stimulation, a sense of purpose, engagement in your community and a fulfilling social life are as important as diet, exercise and medical care when it comes to living a long and healthy life. Yet often public health interventions neglect this reality.

    These projects seek to improve the length and quality of our lives by making use of the rich cultural, artistic, nature and social resources that already exist within our communities. In this way, we can shape a healthier, happier Britain.

    Director of Community Health and Personalised Care at NHS England, James Sanderson said:

    We know that joining up care leads to better outcomes for people. When local partners – the NHS, councils, the voluntary sector and others work together, they can create better services based on local need and what matters to people. Harnessing community assets, finding the opportunities for connection, activity and purpose can support people to achieve good health and wellbeing outcomes.

    Third phase of the programme

    This is the third phase of the programme, led by AHRC in collaboration with the following councils, all part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI):

    • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
    • Economic and Social Research Council
    • Medical Research Council
    • Natural Environment Research Council

    Additional funding has come from UKRI’s building a secure and resilient world and creating opportunities, improving outcomes strategic themes.

    The programme is also run in partnership with the National Centre for Creative Health.

    Place and systems

    Several of the projects aim to tackle problems facing specific types of communities.

    Dr Sara Bradley’s project, based at the University of South Wales, will explore how community-based services can address the challenges faced by rural communities in the Scottish Highlands. These include social isolation, deprivation and delivering services to dispersed communities across large geographical areas.

    She and her team will work with local residents, community groups and healthcare professionals to maximise the use of community assets such as museums, libraries and green spaces. Through the project they aim to integrate the community assets with health and care systems.

    Importance of community-based resources

    Dr Bradley said:

    This project will deepen our understanding of rural health inequalities and how to address them in a way that will benefit rural communities across the UK and beyond. By actively involving local residents, we will help rural communities to have a meaningful role in research and service design.

    This represents an excellent opportunity to research rural health inequalities, which often remain hidden, and to highlight the importance of community-based resources like museums to rural areas. Our aim is to increase public engagement with local cultural and natural resources in order to widen participation, improve community resilience and promote mental well-being.

    Focus on coastal communities

    Another project led by the University of Liverpool and the University of Bristol will focus on coastal communities, which suffer some of the worst health outcomes and inequalities in the UK.

    Focusing on Blackpool, Weston-super-Mare and Hastings, the project will bring the NHS, local authorities, researchers, voluntary and community organisations and residents together to tackle health inequalities. It will focus in particular on mental health, including:

    • young people’s mental health
    • substance use
    • life-limiting illness, grief and bereavement

    Arts, storytelling and community

    Other projects aim to reduce health inequalities using the resources or assets already at the disposal of communities.

    This includes the Arts4Us project based at Edge Hill University, which focuses on the mental health of children aged nine to 13. The project will involve children and young people across the north-west coast of England in the creation of a digital platform where local arts activities can be made accessible to them.

    Involving children and young people in creating the platform will help those taking part develop the skills to access and maximise the benefits of arts activities that support their mental health.

    Principal investigator Professor Vicky Karkou said:

    This collaborative project with over 50 partners aspires to create methodologies, frameworks and training material that will be relevant nationally and internationally, supporting the mental health of children and young people wherever they live.

    Addressing misinformation and building trust

    Another project, ReCITE, is led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. It will explore how storytelling can be better integrated into community and health systems to tackle health inequalities in disadvantaged communities in Merseyside.

    Working with local communities, it aims to address misinformation and build trust in relation to health prevention measures such as cancer screening and childhood immunisation. It will do this by developing stories with communities, building on existing structures to test a more integrated creative health approach.

    Advocating for under-served communities

    Professor Miriam Taegtmeyer, project lead from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said:

    We are pleased to have this opportunity to bring creative storytellers together with local communities, health professionals and researchers. ReCITE puts people with lived experience at the heart of tackling health inequities, harnessing the power of telling stories that resonate with people to catalyse change and advocate for under-served communities.

    Utilising the research expertise at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and our partner universities, we will test and evaluate the effectiveness of this creative health approach as a way to improve health outcomes.