Baring Foundation awards £1 million to support Creative Health leads across health systems in England

The Foundation is pleased to share that last week its Board confirmed a grant of £1 million over four years, to match funding by Arts Council England, to the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) to roll-out the Creative Health Leads programme.

The Creative Health Leads Programme will enable health and care organisations across England to embed creative health into prevention, population health, clinical pathways and neighbourhood models of care. Creative Health Leads will help systems improve wellbeing, reduce health inequalities and deliver more person-centred care.

25–30 Creative Health Lead roles are expected to be supported over the next three years, with appointment of the first five posts already underway.

This new bigger programme follows a successful pilot (Creative Health Associates programme) in seven Integrated Care Boards which ran from 2023-2026.

David Cutler, Director of the Baring Foundation, says:

We are delighted to be partnering with the Arts Council England and NCCH on this programme to integrate creative health better into healthcare systems in England. It is a major achievement by NCCH which has led the development of this work. We hope that this leads to a step change in the way that creative health is viewed, valued, supported and delivered within both the NHS and social care.

Featured image: Rubbena Aurangzeb, Deaf and Diverse (2022) Springfield Hospital. © Hospital Rooms. Photo: Damian Griffiths