About the Wales Arts Health & Well-being Network

About the Wales Arts Health & Well-being Network

Wales Arts Health & Well-being Network is a rapidly expanding membership of arts and health professionals in Wales.

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Become a WAHWN member

Become a WAHWN member

Becoming a member of WAHWN helps you to keep up to date with news, opportunities, research, funding, events and sector developments.

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WAHWN Knowledge Bank

WAHWN Knowledge Bank

Our knowledge bank is full of case studies, research, evaluation reports, articles, white papers and blogs representing the depth and breadth of practice in Arts and Health in Wales and beyond.

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Arts In Health

Arts In Health

Arts health and well-being includes any art project, intervention or commission where the intention is to improve health and well-being.

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Cross-party group on Arts & Health

Cross-party group on Arts & Health

The Cross Party Group on Arts and Health aims to raise awareness of arts and health work among Assembly Members.

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Arts Council of Wales Mapping Study

Arts Council of Wales Mapping Study

The ACW ‘Arts in Health in Wales – A Mapping Study of Current Activity’ maps activity in Wales and sets out their intention to establish deeper links between arts and healthcare services.

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Welsh NHS Confederation

Welsh NHS Confederation

In September 2017, the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh NHS Confederation signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

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Weave arts and mental health conference

Weave arts and mental health conference

Weave is our first arts and health conference, taking place on 4 October 2023 at the Lysaght Institute in Newport, South Wales.

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Featured WAHWN Resources | See Archive

Writing Tree Project

Evaluation and Handbook

Writing Tree Evaluation and Handbook

Author: GWYN LEWIS & DR SARAH DOUGLASS

Making Movement Irresistible (MMI)

MMI is a collaborative arts and health project that aims to create a playful, adaptable, wearable technology for encouraging people in residential homes to experience the joy of moving together.

Author: Wendy Keay-Bright, Professor of Technology and Inclusion, Cardiff Metropolitan U

Creatively Minded and Refugees

Arts, mental health and refugees

New report from the Baring Foundation - Creatively Minded and Refugees, showcasing organisations who offer creative opportunities to refugees and people seeking asylum.

Author: Counterpoint Arts

Welcome to WAHWN: The Wales Arts Health & Well-being Network

Established in 2013, WAHWN (Wales Arts Health & Wellbeing Network) is the national sector support body for arts, health and wellbeing in Wales.  Our work is underpinned by key legislation and drivers, including the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015, and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Welsh NHS Confederation and Arts Council Wales. Our rapidly expanding membership of over 700 arts and health professionals, represents the arts, health and HE sectors working across the full range of art form practice in health, arts and other community settings. WAHWN is proud of its central role within a growing number of key partnership initiatives and our position to provide a national voice for the sector at a strategic level, demonstrating best practice of existing policy implementation and influencing new policies.

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Looking to get started?

We’ve put together some particular resources for each of our types of user. Click the buttons below to quickly see the resources that will help you get prepared for working, commissioning, or supporting arts in health.

Become a Member of WAHWN

Are you committed to working together to strengthen and advocate for arts as part of well-being and health? Then WAHWN is for you.

WAHWN is a strategic network for arts, health and well-being in Wales – a common meeting ground for knowledge exchange and the joint promotion of activities. Our work currently includes the development of training and development provision, resource development, research, events and advocacy.

WAHWN members will be able to:-

  • Share their knowledge with others in the Network
  • Post opportunities, events, news and blogs
  • Connect with each other to share knowledge and develop collaborative work
  • Submit case studies, research, papers, evaluation and project reports  

See our Member ListJoin WAHWN online

Become a Member

“As soon as I joined, the Network gave me a point of connection with other people like me, I can’t tell you how valuable that is. It’s common to be the only one of your kind in a healthcare institution, it can be very isolating. In WAHWN, not only do I have a solid group of colleagues that I can share ideas with and ask advice from, I also find myself doing exciting new work with other members as we discover shared needs and interests within the field of Arts And Health.”

Heather Parnell, Cwm Taf Health Board

“The network has been excellent for meeting others working in arts and health. As a result of the network I have made new collaborations for sharing research informed training. I envisage further collaborations around research development and evaluation”

Dr Gill Windle, Senior Researcher, Bangor University Dementia Services Research Department

“Network meetings are an invaluable way for practitioners like me to keep up to date on CPD in arts and health and to stay in touch with members and their work especially as we live in a relatively remote area. It allows us to promote the arts in health in these areas which need support.”

Tanya Dower, Live Music Now Wales

"The Network helps us keep up to date with activity pan Wales, share with colleagues and develop new partnerships essential in this day and age. There is an exciting growing moment in arts and health in the UK and especially in Wales, and I believe this network is essential to keep that going and continue to enhance our reach and provision to benefit so many communities across our country"

Claire Cressey, Director, Live Music Now Wales

"Huge congratulations for pulling off such an invigorating and well-organised day (The WAHWN Art of Health in Wales Symposium and Showcase). A great turn out and a great sense of solidarity and cohesion in the room. Well done!"   

Sally Lewis, Arts Council of Wales