Creative developments for wellbeing CIC

An exciting development will see an exceptional individual play a new role in leading creative health across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly from September.

Arts Well is welcoming Olivia Beckwith to a newly developed role of Development Director, as Arts Well’s Founding Director – Jayne Howard – takes up a 15-month post as Creative Health Associates Programme Manager with the National Centre for Creative Health.

Olivia’s new role of Development Director with Arts Well will ensure strategic plans for the CIC are delivered, developing the organisation’s pivotal role in creative health in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, building on the achievements to date, progressing existing projects and programmes of work and developing new programmes and funding streams.

Olivia, who comes from St Just, is looking forward to bringing her expertise and experience to her new role with Arts Well saying:

“I am a people person: supporting, championing, coaching and developing people and communities to thrive through the arts is what I love to do. Bringing the business knowledge and skills I have learnt in my previous roles at Unlocking Potential and Cultivator, and my own commitment to the arts as an illustrator and writer myself to help such a fantastic organisation to continue to grow their work feels like a huge opportunity and a massive privilege.  I am very much looking forward to joining Jayne and the team and working with all the fantastic creative practitioners in Cornwall working in the health and wellbeing sector to make a meaningful difference for Cornwall through Arts and Culture.”

Jayne Howard, Director of Arts Well, based in Penryn explains:

“We are delighted to welcome Olivia Beckwith to the role of Development Director at Arts Well, who will be taking up her post at the end of August. From her previous role as Graduate Start Up Manager and Business Coach with Cultivator, Olivia comes with fabulous knowledge of the creative sector in Cornwall, a commitment to the transformative role that arts, culture and creativity can play in health and wellbeing and a skillset which will really enhance our organisation. We're really looking forward to having her on board!”

Supporting Olivia on a part time basis, Jayne will take the next 15 months to manage a programme which aims to embed creative approaches and activities in health and care systems across the country.

Funded by Arts Council England and delivered by the National Centre for Creative Health, the programme will support the NCCHs ambition to foster the conditions for creative health to be integral to health and care and demonstrate the power of culture and creativity to benefit the lives of individuals and communities.

This will in turn benefit Arts Well and Cornwall as Jayne will be able to bring the learning and knowledge from that national programme into creative health work in Cornwall, further strengthening the work that is already taking place here.

Jayne continued:

“I’m really pleased about my role with the National Centre for Creative Health which enables me to take my knowledge and experience of working across the creative, health and care sectors into a national programme, whilst also bringing back new learning and intelligence to support our work here in Cornwall.”

Olivia will lead on Arts Well’s key programmes including developing the Creative Health and Wellbeing Partnership for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly; leading its Ambassador programme, which shares intelligence about creative health across the county; championing the ‘Creativity – It’s good for you!’ Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the value of everyday creativity on health and sharing wellbeing opportunities to get creative across Cornwall.

She will also help co-ordinate Arts Well’s work with the growing Community Wellbeing Hubs in Cornwall providing a range of support to organisations delivering services locally; promoting workplace wellbeing; developing creative practitioners; providing training and support to staff working in the care sector to embed creative health within care homes; and a range of  Partnership projects, working in collaboration with other organisations which use arts, culture and creativity to improve health and wellbeing for individuals and communities.

For further information about Arts Well, visit www.arts-well.com or find them on social media.