CHWA's conference will run from 7-9 October 2026 at Barnsley Civic 

• Read the programme here or listen to an audio version here
• Read about how you can support as a sponsor here

The conference is an opportunity for the creative health sector to come together for nourishment, knowledge and support. 

Our theme for 2026 is Common Ground and we will be learning from people in our own and related fields about how we can come together to effect deep and much-needed systemic change. 

Our amazing programme includes:

• Performances by Akademi, poet and activist Ink Asher-Hemp and live-looping artist Jasmine Khalia
• Workshops led by Cast Theatre, Live Music Now, Hopeful Mess, Dance United Yorkshire, Mafwa Theatre, Ascendance, Helen Todd, Elnaz Yazdani, S. K. Marley and Joachim Keke
• A playful and restorative residency, CAIR Salon, led by Liz Clarke & Co
• Discussions and panels led by Darren Henley, Prof Helen Chatterjee, Prof Kevin Fenton, Cedric Whilby and many others
• An extraordinary lineup of speakers representing Arts Council (England & Wales), the National Centre for Creative Health (UCL), Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals, London Arts and Health, Royal Museums Greenwich, Rising Arts Agency, East Marsh United, New Economics Foundation, Black Pounds Project, In Situ, darts, Sheffield Hallam University, Counterpoints Arts, Migration Matters Festival, and a constellation of other creative health organisations
• A moment to celebrate and reflect on the work and extraordinary legacy of Clive Parkinson

For a full list of creative and inspiring panelists, artists, performers and workshops facilitators, see the programme here. 

We will be guided by the Creative Health Quality Principles, to build a gathering that is person-centred, equitable, safe, creative, collaborative, realistic, reflective and sustainable. 

You can read about our previous conference in Barnsley here.

Biographies

Thank you

Thank you to our core funders Arts Council England, and to: 

• Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Helix Arts, Leeds Institute For Societal Futures (University of Leeds), London Arts and Health, Suffolk County Council, Norfolk County Council, and the West Yorkshire Creative Health Consortium for their generous support of bursaries for people to attend this conference. 
• Creative Manchester for sponsoring as a supporter