Creative Health Stories

In this conversation, Laura and award winning poet and performer Hollie McNish explore the profound connection between creativity, poetry, humour and wellbeing. They discuss the nature of creativity, the journey to becoming a poet, and the impact of poetry on mental health. Hollie shares her insights on the intersection of personal and political themes in her work, the importance of community in f...

In this commissioned episode of Creative Health Stories , host Laura Bailey explores an innovative initiative that brings professional dance and movement training into early years education. Early Moves is a partnership programme from Rambert Dance Company, Rambert Grades, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) which trains nursery practitioners to embed creative movement into daily prac...

This episode of Creative Health Stories is a little different. Host Laura Bailey takes the podcast outdoors to the Whitstable seafront for a conversation with artist Liz Atkin. Liz shares her lived experience of dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking disorder) and how charcoal drawing became both a recovery tool and a powerful creative practice. Together they explore how creativity can transform...

In this conversation, Laura and Kate Valentine explore the transformative power of singing for mothers through the Singing Mamas programme. Kate shares her journey from nursing to leading community singing sessions, emphasising the emotional and mental health benefits of singing. They discuss the integration of creative health into the NHS, the challenges of funding, and the importance of communit...

In this episode of Creative Health Stories, host Laura Bailey speaks with Sarah Ticho, a multidisciplinary artist and entrepreneur, about her journey into immersive technology and its applications in health and wellbeing. They discuss the various forms of immersive technology, including XR, VR, AR, and MR, and how these technologies can be used therapeutically in areas such as pain management, men...

In this episode host Laura Bailey is joined by artist, researcher, art psychotherapist and community leader Thahmina Begum . Based in Leeds, Thahmina shares her extraordinary 20+ year journey at the intersection of creative health, art therapy and community development, rooted in her Bangladeshi heritage and unwavering commitment to social justice and health equity. From the early influence of you...

In this rich and energising conversation, host Laura Bailey speaks with Tony Cealy, an acclaimed theatre practitioner and cultural producer, about the transformative power of drama, improvisation, and play in community and justice settings. Tony shares how he moved from an initial career in accountancy to working with some of society’s most marginalized groups through creative and participatory th...

Dan Hopewell is a lifelong advocate for social justice and community empowerment, whose work spans international public art, grassroots activism, and pioneering community-led health models that integrate creative health. In this episode we have a rich conversation about Dan's life, work, and philosophy around community, creativity, and health. He discusses his early belief in social justice and ac...

The third and final episode of a mini series of audio stories I've been creating as part of a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England is about the health and wellbeing benefits of singing. I spent time with 3 different community singing groups, capturing their singing sessions and interviewing participants about how it makes them feel and what benefits it brings to th...

The second in a mini series of audio stories I've been creating as part of a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England comes from The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury, Kent. The Beaney describes itself as a 'pioneering therapeutic museum' which uses its unique building and collections to create a ‘tonic’ to enhance a visitor’s experience and improve the...

My guests in this episode are leading nature-based wellbeing opportunities for communities in South West England. They joined me for a fascinating conversation about how their services operate, some of the challenges they face and the wide-ranging impacts of being in green spaces. Laura Tween is Director of Able Hands Together, a CIC based near Salisbury focussed on therapeutic farming for the ben...

During 2024, I started further developing my skills and experience in recording, producing and editing sound as part of a Develop Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England. I've been working with a range of organisations, professionals and participants who put health and wellbeing at the heart of their creative and cultural practices, to capture the stories and impact that bein...

Sir Michael Marmot has been Professor of Epidemiology at University College London since 1985 and is Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity. He has led research groups on health inequalities for nearly 50 years and in 2000 he was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen, for services to epidemiology and the understanding of health inequalities. More recently, Marmot was appointed a Companion...

Grenville Hancox MBE is a musician, teacher, performer and conductor who has been at the forefront of initiating and researching music and health activities throughout his career. In 2003 he was a co-founder of the Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health and later in 2012 founded the charity Canterbury Cantata Trust which developed a collection of singing groups including Sing to Beat P...

My guests in this episode came together through a puppetry and mask making project commissioned by West Kent Mind called The Forest Project. Cath Jackson is a Wellbeing Worker and Counsellor with the charity, Dani Thompsett is a guardian and big sister who joined the course as a participant and Russell Dean is the Artistic Director of Strangeface Theatre Company. The four of us had a lovely conver...

Ash Nugent is a celebrated artist, writer and founder of RiseUp, a charity that uses creative arts to work with people in prisons and communities. In this episode he discusses his own journey from experiencing racism in the leafy suburbs of Liverpool, finding school unsatisfactory and uninspiring to becoming a disruptive youth and ending up in a Jamaican prison at 17. His turning point came throug...

Professor Kevin Fenton is a senior public health expert and infectious disease epidemiologist, who has worked in a variety of public health executive leadership roles across government and academia in the UK and internationally, including taking a leading role in London’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was awarded a CBE in the 2022 New Year honours list for services to public health.  ...

Creativity and Wellbeing Week is a festival led by London Arts and Health and the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance and funded by Arts Council England. This is a special commissioned episode reflecting on the festival week past and present to help understand the value of it to the creative health sector. I spent time listening at online events and interviewed a selection of people representing...

I'm taking a short break over April. In the meantime, I want you to send me your creative health story! Do you have a creative health story you'd like to share which could inspire other people? Send me an audio recording, no more than 5 minutes long, about how you're engaging with creativity for health or wellbeing to include on the podcast. Or write it down in no more that 750 words and...

Mark Kilbey is former police officer and detective who retired from the force after 20 years through mental ill-health after which followed a long period of mental illness including suicide attempts. He set up the peer-led mental health charity Take Off to support people in similar situations. Sarah Winn is a theatre maker who works with young offenders, vulnerable adults and diverse communities ....

Amal Lad is a GP and musician from Birmingham who has made a career out of exploring the intersection between art and medicine. His ability to reveal the connection between music and well-being has been recognised by the BBC and TEDxNHS, as well as countless listeners around the globe. He is the host of the Creative Medicine podcast, which also explores how people use creativity to improve health...

Christopher Bailey is the Arts and Health Lead at the World Health Organization and a co-founder of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab.   Educated at Columbia and Oxford Universities as well as the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, after a career as a professional actor and playwright, Christopher worked at the Rockefeller Foundation before joining the WHO. Christopher has also performed or...

Kiran 'Kiz' Manley is the UK’s first Hip Hop Therapist. In 2012 she set up Hip Hop HEALS, a mental health social enterprise that spreads knowledge and research about Trauma-Informed Hip Hop. She hosts and produces her own podcast called 'Glowwiththeflow' on therapeutic Hip Hop, offering radical solutions to homelessness and mental ill health. The work stems from her own lived experiences of loss a...

Sian Stevenson is Creative Director of Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company. Sian has worked in theatre, opera and participatory arts for over 30 years. She has extensive experience in applied theatre, with specialist knowledge in movement, inclusivity, and disability. Her  work with Moving Memory is focused on the creation and promotion of a distinctive, movement-based, peer-led, collaborative, cr...

On the 27th November, London Arts and Health invited everyone interested in the intersections of health and culture to come together for a day of exchange, reflection, boundary pushing and action planning. Together, we imagined London as a creative health capital city, laying the building blocks to see it become reality. Creative and health organisations and practitioners all see health and cultur...