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 fostering creativity, and the role of humor in addressing serious issues. They also touch on the value of everyday creativity and the challenges faced in arts funding and accessibility. The conversation concludes with advice for aspiring creatives and reflections on the transformative power of art in people's lives. Listen to the end to hear Hollie reading from her new book Virgin.

A thoughtful and candid discussion about permission, persistence and the power of everyday creativity in public life.

Timestamps: 

00:00 - Welcome and introduction to Hollie McNish's work and themes

02:00 - Childhood creativity and societal labels on arts and talent

05:00 - The importance of creative health in education and everyday life

08:00 - Personal stories and how poetry helps process grief, joy, and anger

12:00 - The journey from hobbyist to professional poet and challenges faced

15:00 - Using poetry as social commentary on societal issues like misogyny and xenophobia

20:00 - How writing about personal and political topics serves emotional and societal healing

25:00 - Explaining how poetry addresses feelings and personal experiences

30:00 - The role of humor and satire in tackling serious societal issues

35:00 - The political significance of content around topics like virginity, sex education, and menopause

40:00 - Community arts, policy challenges, and funding cuts: what's needed to improve access

45:00 - Encouraging people to find their creative outlets and access arts for health

50:00 - The cultural and economic benefits of national and international arts funding schemes

55:00 - Final thoughts on the power of everyday creativity and its impact on health and society

Resources & Links:

Hollie McNish's website

Virgin by Hollie McNish

Maternal Journal - support for new mothers

Professor Sir Michael Marmot's work on social determinants of health

Pride (Film about activism and community)

Social Media:

Hollie on Instagram

Creative Health Stories on Instagram

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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 practice. Designed to support children from 0–5 years, this pioneering project uses dance to enhance physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, contributing to school readiness and workforce wellbeing at scale.

Early Moves has been made possible through support from Arts Council England's National Lottery funded Place Partnership Fund, with additional support from the Granada Foundation and GMCA.

Movement as Development: Early movement isn’t just physical play — it’s tied to brain development, communication, balance, emotional regulation, and self-expression.

Empowering Practitioners: Nursery practitioners with little or no dance experience are trained to lead creative movement sessions confidently, enhancing their professional skills, wellbeing, and job satisfaction.

Real-world Impact: Practitioners share stories about boosts in children’s confidence, listening skills, social interaction, language development, and engagement, especially for those who are shy or have additional needs.

Strategic Partnership: Greater Manchester’s early years leaders invested in the programme to tackle low school readiness rates, particularly in more deprived areas, through a creative and holistic approach.

Daniel Fulvio, Director of Community Partnerships, Rambert

Hannah Kidd, Head of Education & Examinations, Rambert Grades

Chloe Senior, Early Years Dance Specialist

Anna Daley and Anne O’Connor, Evaluators, Primed for Life

Miriam Loxham, Senior Principal for Early Years and Faily Help, Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Julie McCarthy, Strategic Lead for Creative Health, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and NHS Greater Manchester 

Early Years Practitioners: Pamela (Dream Big Little One), Sharon (St. Vincent’s), Holly (Safari Kindergarten), Tiffany (Clayton Tiddlywinks), Niamh (Buttercup Corner).

Rambert Dance Company

Website https://rambert.org.uk/

Instagram: @rambertdance

Rambert Grades

Website: https://www.rambertgrades.com/

Instagram: @rambertgrades

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Website: https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

Instagram: @greatermcr

Arts Council England

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk

Instagram: @aceagrams

Granada Foundation

Website: https://granadafoundation.org/

Image by Jack Thomson @j_a_c_k__t_h_o_m_s_o_n 

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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 personal health and support others in clinical and community settings.

It’s a candid and inspiring conversation about vulnerability, play, and the therapeutic potential of creativity.

Key Points:

• Liz’s journey from theatre and dance to charcoal drawing.
• Using creativity to refocus compulsion and anxiety.
• The role of play and flow in improving wellbeing.
• Workshops with NHS staff and the importance of creative breaks.
• How creative health programmes face challenges in the current NHS context.

Links:

• Liz Atkin: lizatkin.com
• Breathe Arts Health Research: breatheahr.org
• Horsebridge Arts Centre, Whitstable: horsebridge.org.uk

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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 community support. The conversation highlights how singing can foster connection, healing, and confidence among mothers, ultimately advocating for a shift in how health professionals view and utilise creative practices in healthcare.

Takeaways:

Singing together creates a sense of community and belonging.

The act of singing can significantly improve mental health.

Mothers often struggle with mental health, and singing provides support.

Creative health initiatives can be integrated into the NHS.

Funding for community singing programs is often inconsistent.

Singing helps build confidence in one's voice and expression.

Community leaders play a crucial role in promoting wellbeing.

Singing can be a powerful tool for emotional processing.

The benefits of singing extend beyond the individual to the community.

Creative practices are essential for the resilience of health professionals.

Links:

Singing Mamas CIC

Socials:

Singing_Mamas_Org

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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, mental health, and community building. Sarah shares her experiences with her project Soul Paint, which aims to help individuals express their emotions through immersive art. The conversation also touches on the challenges of funding, the need for diversity in the field, and the importance of creating inclusive spaces for all.

Takeaways:

• Immersive technology can serve as a bridge for discussing difficult topics like grief.
• XR has significant applications in pain management and mental health treatment.
• Funding for XR projects is often challenging due to a perceived lack of evidence and insufficient infrastructure.
• Diversity and inclusion are critical in the development of XR technologies.
• Community building through VR can help combat isolation and foster connections.
• Soul Paint is an immersive experience designed to help individuals explore their emotions.
• The process of creating immersive art involves collaboration across various disciplines.
• There is a need for new roles and infrastructure in healthcare to support XR initiatives.
• The potential of XR in healthcare is vast, but it requires more recognition and support.

Links:

Soul Paint

Hatsumi 

Monobanda

Deep

We Met in Virtual Reality 

Quad Gods

The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare in the UK report

Socials:

Soul Paint Instagram

Sarah on Instagram

Sarah on LinkedIn

Creative Health Stories Instagram

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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 youth clubs and play schemes in Leeds, to art therapy programmes that address racial and intergenerational trauma, Thahmina’s work spans psychiatric wards, schools, community centres and galleries. She reflects on her personal story of resilience and the power of art to create safe, transformative spaces for people from underrepresented communities.

She also discusses the importance of trauma-informed practice, the ethics of care for artists and practitioners, and the urgent need for leadership, infrastructure and investment to sustain a creative health workforce. With infectious warmth and clarity, Thahmina offers a vision for an equitable future where art is embedded across health services—from GP surgeries to national institutions.

Links:

Creative Health Stories

Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance (CHWA) – Thahmina is Co-Chair

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

British Library

British Council

The Tetley / Yorkshire Contemporary

Yorkshire Sculpture International

Leeds Art Gallery

Henry Moore Institute

Barbara Hepworth Wakefield

Leeds City Museum

Up Projects – Thahmina is a Trustee

Lab4Living

Creative Health Boards

Global South Arts and Health Week

Socials:

@artbyfudgee

@creativehealthstories

Get Involved:

If you’d like to use audio stories in your work, or explore collaborations, visit our website and get in touch.

💬 Rate, review and subscribe to help others discover Creative Health Stories.

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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 theatre.

We explore how Tony uses forum theatre, psychodrama, and improvisation to promote behavioural change, community empowerment, and policy advocacy. From working in prisons to shaping health systems, Tony's work challenges injustice, champions unheard voices, and inspires change from the ground up.

If this episode resonated with you, please consider subscribing, rating, and reviewing Creative Health Stories — it really helps others discover the podcast.

Links:

Tony Cealy’s website

Theatre of the Oppressed

Cardboard Citizens

Socials:

@tonycealy

Tony's LinkedIn

@creativehealthstories

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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 activism and the 15 years he spent in Nicaragua developing community-based public art, which led to education reform and built a legacy that continues today. Upon returning to the UK, Dan joined Bromley by Bow Centre, where he contributed to the development of its arts and community programs. He talks through the Centre’s evolution from a dilapidated church into a pioneering, thriving community hub reversing traditional top-down approaches, integrating arts, employment, and social support services.

Dan helped shape the UK's social prescribing model, aiming to address the root causes of health issues through holistic, community-based support. We discuss its successes and challenges, along with the state of the NHS.

Links

Bromley by Bow Centre

Social Prescribing Network

Socials

@bromley_by_bow_centre

BbB LinkedIn

@creativehealthstories

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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 their lives.

Monday Music was set up by Grenville Hancox to promote the benefits of singing for general well-being. Its 65 or so members are mainly residents of Folkestone and its surrounding areas who meet once a week, during term time, to sing together. Grenville describes the sessions as a physical, mental and spiritual workout!

Canterbury Skylarks is the founding Sing to Beat Parkinson's group and part of the Canterbury Cantata Trust which supports a network of singing groups for people with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions. The programme’s origins are rooted in the work of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health (SDH centre) and since 2018, more than three hundred practitioners have participated in Sing to Beat Parkinson’s training programmes.

Singing Mamas is a grassroots movement of women committed to improving wellbeing through singing. It was set up by nurse Kate Valentine to help manage stress, find connection and joy. There are Singing Mamas groups all over the country supporting women through pregnancy and motherhood, and with symptoms of postnatal depression.

This story isn't about new scientific evidence, it re-confirms and celebrates how singing creates community, a sense of belonging and identity along with supporting mental health, other neurological conditions and a range of physical health conditions.

If you'd like to commission an audio story about your work, organisation or group. Please get in touch.

Links:

Monday Music

Sing to Beat Parkinson's

Canterbury Cantata Trust

Singing Mamas

Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health

Socials:

@singing_mamas_org

@singtobeatparkinsons

@kate_valentine_singing_mamas

@creativehealthstories

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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 their health and wellbeing. Its been at the forefront of wellbeing in museums for over a decade. I spent time capturing the sounds and stories from four of its wellbeing programme activities, tailored for a range of people with different needs including: blind and partially sighted people, people living with dementia and their carers, people struggling with loneliness and social isolation, older women and an artist working with science exhibiting in their Front Room gallery.

This story demonstrates how much public cultural spaces like museums and galleries can play a significant role in public health and are a lifeline for many people. Technically this story was challenging as sound echoes in big gallery spaces with hard floors and big glass cases, but it captures the great work The Beaney staff, volunteers and creative practitioners do.

Links

The Beaney

Museums on Prescription

Wendy Daws

Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company

Mellissa Monsoon

Socials

@the_beaney

@creativehealthstories

@wendydawsart

@moving_memory

@mellissamonsoonartist

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