Scotland launches fund for participatory arts and mental health

A new fund has been launched in Scotland to nurture specialist practice in participatory arts and mental health.

Creative Scotland’s Participatory Arts and Mental Health Fund is backed with £145,000 from The National Lottery.

Created in partnership with the Baring Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation, the initiative is in response to increased interest in the connections between art, health and well-being.

Kim Simpson, Creative Scotland’s Head of Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion, hopes the fund will help promote a deeper understanding of the role the arts can play in this area.

She said: “The funding will allow for time and space for new ideas and approaches to be explored and developed, and for innovative ways of working to emerge that will benefit mental health prevention and recovery within participatory settings.”

She added that work in this area “couldn’t be more crucial or timely as we in Scotland, like other nations in the UK and around the world, grapple with the worsening mental health crisis”.