Practising Well Award 2022 Shortlist

In collaboration with Nicola Naismith

Freelancer Manifesto, Turtle Key Arts

In 2021/22 Turtle Key Arts commissioned two freelancers to undertake a comprehensive study of working conditions for freelancers in our industry. They gathered first-hand accounts from individual artists about the issues that most affected them and how to make their future experience as rewarding, fulfilling and secure as possible.

We needed to make sure that they were supported to stay in the industry and that we could create a lasting legacy to ensure best practice for the foreseeable future. This culminated in the publication of the Freelancer Manifesto and Pay Pledge which was shared with all collaborators and our wider network of arts organisations. This has been adopted by all of the Turtle Key Arts collaborating companies and artists and most recently was used as an example of best practice in the cohort of freelancers and organisations working with the Greater London Authority to shape London’s Cultural Recovery.

Read more

Headway Arts Culture of Kindness & Creative Caf

Headway Arts have actively nurtured a what they call Culture of Kindness within their organisation aiming for everyone to feel valued, supported, cared for and well. Their programme of inclusive creative workshops and gatherings is carefully designed, with lessons learned and lived experience and working all through Covid.

It must not be forgotten that those leading programmes supporting vulnerable others vitally need nurture and care too, so formal and informal wellness actions have been made. Support is embedded into the organisational culture ensuring all are looked after and feel able to ask for help and needs are responded to and work adjusted where needed.

Peer support is actively encouraged; and a series of regular creative sessions are made available to the whole team including freelance associates, trustees and other volunteers. Key team members are also trained in Counselling and Mental Health First Aid and can offer referrals to services such as NHS or Care Trust and other resources. A monthly Creative Café offers an informal gathering with a gentle creative activity and low focus opportunity to meet, reflect, relax and talk for all.

Read more

Live Music Now

The pandemic had a devastating impact on our musicians’ mental health as well as their careers. It’s critical that we look after their health and wellbeing too. In preparation for returning to live in-person musical performances after 15 months of isolation, we offered all musicians on Live Music Now’s scheme a free package of support and resources, including life coaching, mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, performance skills and rehearsal assistance, ensuring they were feeling confident, strong and motivated to get back on their feet.

With funding from Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales’ Culture Recovery Fund, our #ReturnToLive project:

  • Provided development, mentoring and support for Live Music Now’s 250 musicians across the UK
  • Offered moments of wellbeing and support to staff delivering on the frontline of the pandemic for the past 15 months
  • Enabled those experiencing disadvantage and challenging circumstance across the UK to experience the benefits of participation in live, in-person music making for the first time in 15 months

"LMN prepares musicians well for each new project with comprehensive training and briefings, and opportunities to ask questions along the way. Knowing that LMN values our work and sees musicians as the charity’s biggest asset helps us to feel enthusiastic about performing, motivated to develop and improve, and feel optimistic about pursuing successful careers as musicians, which will have an impact on the wider sector."

Christopher Roberts, nominee for Live Music Now

Read more

Soundcastle - Sparking Change

At Soundcastle everything comes from a mental health and wellbeing focus. From how we run our meetings, to how we interview inclusively, to how we work kindly in our communities. We centre mental health to create an inclusive, flexible culture in which our team can thrive.

We have a Wellbeing Agenda, which means we put people first. As part of this, we have a menu of support offers available to the team, in addition to the embedded practices within our day-to-day. Our leadership team adopt a coaching approach to communication; always open to support and positively challenge the team.

We have an external supervisor who works closely with practitioners and leadership to support our work in vulnerable settings and enables us to process trauma and challenges. We train everyone in First Aid for Mental Health and celebrate the lived experience of our team and communities in all of our practice.

"Soundcastle have been exemplary in every way throughout my interactions with the organisation and experience on the Sparking Change programme. The team are so forward-thinking, sensitive and responsive to the needs of the people they work with, and really worked hard to centre us as young people in the process of the Sparking Change programme. I can't say enough good things about the support I have received - I have felt able to be open and show up as myself in each session, and know that I will be met with support and understanding"

Lila Bhattacherjee, Soundcastle nominee

Read more

Performing Medicine

Performing Medicine works with freelance practitioners to deliver creative training programmes for healthcare professionals, drawing on ideas and techniques from the arts. We provide support, value and care for practitioners to protect their wellbeing, helping them deliver best quality work in this sector.

Care is at the heart of our practice. Support is embedded in programmes, free-of-charge to practitioners; transparency and trust underpin the opportunities we create and the collaborations we nurture with them. We engage meaningfully in reflective practice with freelancers, recognising that delivery is not a self-contained piece of work, but part of a programme with many strands of support. We draw on ‘Circle of Care’, our relational framework showing how good care flows multi-directionally.

We pay practitioners to develop their skills. We offer induction programmes, ongoing training, good pay rates at all stages. We help practitioners identify opportunities for growth, and establish themselves in this landscape.

Read more

Practitioner Support & Wellbeing Resource

Looking for ways to support your own wellbeing or to build support mechanisms into your practice/organisation? Head to the CHWA Practitioner Support and Wellbeing resource, which includes case studies from the Practising Well Award shortlists and winners from 2020 and 2021.

Read more

Go back to the main Awards page

Learn more about the Practising Well Award and past winners here