Arc symposium to explore how creativity can support mental health in the workplace

Stockport arts and mental health charity, Arc, is hosting a half-day symposium to explore how creativity can support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for staff and the people they work with.

Over the past 30 years of running successful arts for mental health programmes, Arc has witnessed the growing demand for wellbeing programmes from across the private, public, and education sectors in recent years and strongly believe that creativity has a vital role to play in shaping healthier, more sustainable working cultures.

The Government’s landmark Keep Britain Working Review (to be driven forward by Sir Charlie Mayfield) has learned that 1 in 5 adults of working age are off work sick (800k more than in 2019) and the cost of ill-health that prevents work is equal to nearly 70% of all income-tax receipts. As these sobering statistics show, it is vital that we provide colleagues with tools for resilience, recovery & healthier workplace culture.

Arc’s Creative Work, Health Minds: Creativity and Wellbeing Symposium will take place on 23rd February 2026 at Stockport’s Hat Works from 9.30am to 1.30pm. It will be the start of a conversation with the aims of sharing inspiring examples and evidence, generating ideas for sustainable, scalable initiatives and informing future funding bids and collaborative projects.

The event will feature short, thought-provoking presentations (15 minutes each), followed by group discussions and a shared lunch. Confirmed speakers, with more to be announced, include Dr Lucy Walker – Lecturer, Dept of Psychology, Mcr Met Uni; Dawn Prescott – Director, LIME Arts, Manchester Uni NHS Foundation Trust; and Nicola Ryan – Director of Colleague Support, One+All (a Certified B Corp).

Why attend

• Insights from Man Met Uni, NHS creative health leaders & sector case studies.
• Creative approaches to reduce stress & improve wellbeing
• Honest discussion of barriers – and real-world enablers
• Cross-sector networking (health, business, education, VCFSE, culture)
• Opportunity to help shape future pilots & funding bids

Who should attend:

• Mental health improvement enablers who want to implement real change
• Public health and mental health decision makers
• Mental health referrers interested in pilot projects
• Wellbeing champions – those responsible for improving wellbeing in their setting – hospitals, schools or businesses
• Businesses who want to improve the resilience of their staff, for reduced sickness and increased longevity
• Those who have worked with Arc, seen the benefits of our programmes and would like access to more support
• Academics and researchers working in this field

For further details about the event and to book your free place, visit the Eventbrite page.

Arc’s Creative Work, Health Minds: Creativity and Wellbeing Symposium has been part-funded by the UK Government.