Arts4us

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation

Working together to scale up place-based arts initiatives that support the mental health of children and young people (CYP) (9-13).

The Arts4us project focuses on the mental health of young people aged nine to 13, a group at significant risk of developing mental health problems while transitioning from childhood to adolescence. The project will create an easy-to-use digital platform where evidence-based local arts activities can be made accessible for children and young people (CYP), their families and relevant organisations and services.

CYP will act as co-researchers maximising the benefits of arts activities that support their mental health. They will work jointly with community partners, health services and academic institutions to develop evaluative frameworks, digital material and good arts-based practice that will support the mental health of CYP in the Northwest.

As a collaborative project with over 50 Co-Is and partners, it will ensure its outputs are scalable nationally and internationally, making a positive impact on the lives of CYP wherever they are based.

A student sat on a blue coach talking to a member of staff.

Objectives

To develop a scalable mapping methodology that captures and streamlines access to place-based arts initiatives that support the mental health of CYP.
To establish an agreed evaluation framework that can be used to identify best practice in arts initiatives.
To test learning in new regions, optimising scaling up and adoption of arts initiatives in Integrated Care System, thus tackling health inequalities.