The APPG was formed in 2014 and is a cross party group of parliamentarians with a shared interest in the field of arts, health and wellbeing. The aim of the APPG is to raise awareness of the benefits that the arts can bring to health and wellbeing and to stimulate progress towards making these benefits a reality across the country.
A meeting to elect Officers for the APPG was held on 14th December 2021:
- Chair and Registered Contact: Tracey Crouch MP
- Co-Chair: Lord Howarth of Newport
- Vice-Chair: Rachel Hopkins MP
- Vice-Chair: Baroness Meacher
- Vice-Chair: Baroness Morgan of Cotes
- Treasurer: Baroness Andrews
The minutes of the meeting can be downloaded here.
If you know that your constituency MP is interested in this area of work, please let us know at appgahw@gmail.com.
The Terms of Reference of the APPG can be downloaded here. Papers related to AGMs, financial statements and minutes can be accessed here.
The APPG holds no funds itself. All APPG finances are managed by AHSW and governance oversight is provided by the Board of Trustees of AHSW.
You can read the Annual Report here and the minutes of the AGM here.
For further information on the APPG please contact Alex Coulter: appgahw@gmail.com
2015-2017 Inquiry and Creative Health report
From 2015-2017, the APPG conducted an Inquiry into practice and research in the arts in health and social care with a view to making recommendations to improve policy and practice. As part of the Inquiry, the APPG hosted a series of 16 round tables, in which parliamentarians, practitioners, academics, commissioners, managers and people with lived experience came together to discuss specific themes relating to arts, health and wellbeing.
The Inquiry report, Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing, was published in July 2017. The APPG continues to work towards the implementation of the ten recommendations in the Creative Health report. The Haygarth Lecture by Lord Howarth of Newport gives a useful overview. You can download Lord Howarth’s Haygarth Lecture, Dancing to a Different Tune: The Contribution of Arts to Health, delivered at Chester University on 16th November 2017.
