Creative Minds conference set to celebrate decade of creative community collaborations

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Arts and health charity Creative Minds is celebrating 10 years of using collaborations and creativity to support health and wellbeing with a conference in partnership with University of Huddersfield.

Taking place on Thursday 29 June from 9:30am – 5pm at University of Huddersfield, the event will reflect on 10 years of developing creative health and wellbeing approaches and take a look at visions for the future.

Creative Minds is a charity hosted by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust with over 120 community-based creative partners across Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. The charity co-funds and co-delivers projects for local people using physical and mental health services to build confidence, learn new skills and develop their talents.

At the event, attendees will be able to take part in conversation forums discussing how people with lived experience contribute towards creative approaches. Local groups such as Men’s Talk – men with lived experience of mental health issues who perform a play focusing on men, their mental health and their journey towards recovery – and Hoyland Community Choir, who’ll share their experiences of setting up and running a peer-led community group, will host the sessions.

There will also be a chance to participate in creative taster sessions, including making your own merch, art journalling, mindful drawing, blues verse writing and performing, creative writing, and chair yoga.

Guest speakers will also share their thoughts and experiences of why creativity is important in healthcare.

Phil Walters, Creative Minds strategic lead, said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming people to our conference to learn more about how Creative Minds has developed and flourished. We’ll explore why championing recovery-focused creative approaches is important, and hear the perspectives of people with lived experience and their role in developing and delivering these approaches.

“Our event will be of special interest to people with lived experience of mental health conditions, community and third sector organisations, academics seeking new perspectives about mental health and wellbeing, and mental health practitioners and health care organisations looking for new ways of supporting mental wellbeing.

“It promises to be an insightful and inspiring day and tickets are selling fast. I’d encourage people to come along and explore what creativity means to them with our panel of experts and those at the heart of what we do.”

Tickets for the conference are £25. Places can be booked on Eventbrite.

Creative Minds conference set to celebrate decade of creative community collaborations

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