Launch of Greater Manchester Coalition for Young People's Creative Mental Health
Launch of Greater Manchester Coalition for Young People's Creative Mental Health
The Horsfall, 42nd Street’s creative and cultural programme, announces the launch of a new ground-breaking Greater Manchester Young People’s Creative Mental Health Coalition - putting youth voice and creative approaches at the heart of mental health support.
Officially launching during 42nd Street’s 2025 Future is Ours Festival, at a two-day young people led symposium, 8th-9th May, at Manchester Central Library and online, sparking conversations across local and national audiences.
“My biggest issue is that gap between conjuring up the confidence to go and ask for help, to either not be given the support or going onto an eight-month waiting list” says one young person. “And I feel creativity can be in the middle of that.” “If creativity was more accepted and widely used in everything, I think people would be more okay and I'd love to see more creativity used in the mental health sector in doctors” adds another. A third young person states simply: “I would prescribe creativity as well as medicine.”
“Our role is to listen to what the young people say, share their voices so the value of creativity to their mental health is recognised more widely by services,” says Rod Kippen, 42nd Street’s Creativity and Social Action Clinical Lead.
Since 2016, The Horsfall has championed the use of creativity to support mental health, partnering with artists, the creative industries and other charities. Now the coalition are ready to amplify that learning, strengthening partnerships and impact across the city region.
On 8th May, the local symposium will gather young people, artists, policy makers and professionals from mental health, social care, education to co-create the coalitions principles and next steps. “This is a space where young people are not just participants, they’re co-leading and is about embedding creative approaches and ingredients as a norm on mental health support so they are not just and add on. Together with young people we will take a deep dive, into the lived experiences of young people in Greater Manchester, through a creative and cultural lens to identify where creative approaches can improve their mental health and wellbeing complimenting more traditional clinical support.
30 plus partners, including Manchester Camerata, HOME, Contact, Royal Exchange, Z-Arts, Factory, Lowry, Gorse Hill Studios and Company Chameleon will develop responses alongside mental health specialist and young people that will help ensure creative opportunities are of the highest quality and a diverse range of young people can benefit from creativity and all that it offers.
“As pioneers of the use of music for better health and wellbeing, Manchester Camerata are really excited to be one of the founding members of this new coalition, that can bring together the expertise and resources of partners across GM to the arts to make a huge difference to the lives and futures of young people in Greater Manchester.” says Giles Wilmore, Director of Community, Manchester Camerata.
HOME adds “we strive to develop more pathways for young people to access creative opportunities that promote health and wellbeing” and “are delighted to work with 42nd Street and The Horsfall as their expertise in supporting young people’s Mental Health through creativity acts as a template of best practice for us all.”
The symposium is also supported by Cardinal Partnership who state “We are committed to creating opportunities where young people can be seen, heard, and empowered. Through our sponsorship of 42nd Street’s symposium, we are proud to stand behind the next generation of artists, thinkers, and leaders — offering a platform where creativity becomes confidence, expression becomes strength, and young people are supported to tell their stories. As a company with our own Apprenticeship Scheme, we are deeply motivated to support initiatives like this, as we understand the transformative power of providing young people with the tools and opportunities to shape their futures.”
The launch of the Greater Manchester Young People’s Creative Mental Health Coalition couldn’t come at a more crucial times with 1 in 5 young people experiencing mental health challenges, stretched capacity, lengthy waiting lists, and the increasing complexity that young people face in their lives today.
“This isn’t just about art” raises Katie Cosgrave, Creative Mental Health Practitioner at The Horsfall. “It’s about creating systems where young people are seen, heard, and validated - and where creativity is part of the long-term health solution, not an afterthought.”
The Future Is Ours looks how the coalition can start building systems of support which stay with people long into their future, creating a tool kit and prescription for life, which compliments clinical care options and can help prevent crisis, promoting confidence, connection, processing, agency, skills-building, identity and resilience.
