The Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance (CHWA) is thrilled to announce our new Working Together project, developed and delivered in close partnership with GEM to bring the innovative work of the creative health and heritage sectors together.
We are very grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their commitment of an award of £249,071 to realise the Working Together project from Autumn 2023.
Thanks to National Lottery players, GEM and CHWA will be working with six museum and heritage site partners from 2023 to 2025. We will be able to develop and embed health and wellbeing work in museum and heritage settings. By doing this, we will help the sector build stronger relationships with healthcare and community partners, both nationally and strategically.
The museum and heritage organisations taking part, who responded to our joint call for participants in November 2022, are: York Museums Trust; Royal Museums Greenwich; Scottish Maritime Museum; Sunderland Museum & Pleasure Gardens; Newark and Sherwood District Council (Castle and National Civil War Museum); and the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. We are looking forward to working with them to add capacity to their health and wellbeing work.
This holistic new project will offer training and advocacy, and catalyse new, lasting partnerships. It will galvanise the strategic organisational commitment needed from heritage sites and museums to support wellbeing in all of their work.
Matt Walsh, Co-Chair of CHWA, said:
We know how much amazing work is already happening in museums and heritage organisations to support the health and wellbeing of local communities. This funding from The National Lottery Heritage Funds will help all of us involved in this partnership build sustainable programmes based on strong relationships with local partners.
Caroline Marcus, Chair of GEM, said:
We recognise the importance of embedding the health and wellbeing agenda as a core value within the museum and heritage learning sector. GEM is excited to embark on the journey of supporting museums and heritage sites from across the UK with developing the health and wellbeing programmes and creating a long term legacy, for the stronger sector, healthy public and thriving communities.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance (www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk) is the sole free-to-join membership organisation for creative health across England.
We provide networked, collaborative advocacy, support and resources, supporting health and wellbeing for all through creative and cultural practice. We are based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
We work with over 6,000 members including freelance creatives, museums, heritage and arts organisations and strategic partners across culture, health and social care.
GEM (www.gem.org.uk) is the UK wide membership organisation for everyone delivering learning across museum, heritage, and cultural settings. GEM’s membership represents the breadth of museum and heritage organisations across all four nations of the UK.
For 75 years, GEM’s work has enabled learning, inclusion, wellbeing, and economic regeneration outcomes, working to ensure that people of all backgrounds, ages and differing needs are able to access museums and heritage sites. Learning in museums and heritage settings benefits people of all backgrounds and cultures in our society – from the very young to the elderly and learning provides a unique context in which museums can enhance public health & wellbeing.
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Using money raised by The National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund
Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK. More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.
