WAHWN NEWS
WAHWN announces partnership for creative health review for Wales
WAHWN is part of a multi-partner initiative called Cynefin that aims to develop a new creative health strategy for Wales
Date: 23/01/2026
Respond to Wales Culture Green Paper
WAHWN members are being encouraged to respond to a new Green Paper proposing ways to protect Wales’ culture as the Future Generations Commissioner warns the country risks “long-term damage” to cultural opportunities without stronger legal backing.
Date: 28/02/2026
WAHWN appoints Stepping In Manager for next phase
WAHWN is delighted to announce the appointment of Rebecca Hardy-Griffith as Programme Manager for phase two of its Stepping In programme.
Date: 28/01/2026
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 1,000 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.
Looking to get started?
We’ve put together some particular resources for each of our types of user. Click here to 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
"We are a GP practice in 19 Hills, a neighbourhood and community development collaboration in Ringland in the east of Newport in South Wales. We attended the WEAVE conference this year and since have found the advocacy, support and connections Angela and her colleagues, and the entire network of arts and health partners pivotal to our work. We know that arts can transform how we think about, engage people in and help us deliver better approaches in health and public service delivery and we look forward to further collaboration as Wales engages further in this new paradigm."
Jonny Currie, GP Partner, clinical lead Ringland Medical Practice and and Co-Director 19 Hills CIC
"Looking forward to continuing to work with this fantastic network who have played such a key role in shaping the recommendations."
Sandy Clubb, Policy Lead: Involvement, Collaboration and Culture, at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
"WAHWN are such an asset for Wales - it's great to be able to connect with the arts and health workforce through a single route and to have a national organisation supporting the development of the arts and health workforce and who are proactive in driving developments in the evidence for arts for health and wellbeing in Wales."
Emily Van de Venter, Lead Consultant, Mental Wellbeing, Public Health Wales
"WAHWN always feels warm - it is a space to listen, learn and share, a creative community of freelancing artists woven together by shared experiences wherever we might be in Wales."
Tara Dean, Creative Practitioner
"Being a member of WAHWN has been of huge benefit to my professional practice and research. Through WAHWN I'm able to connect with sector professionals, stay abreast of developments, be part of a collective voice to enhance practice and policy in the sector, and ensure my research is of relevance and emerges from genuine need."
Professor Emily Underwood-Lee, Professor of Performance Studies, University of South Wales