On the 3rd June 2025 the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Creative Health met at Westminster to discuss how creative health activities and approaches can support the mental health of children and young people. The meeting, convened by the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and chaired by Dr Simon Opher MP, featured experts from across research, policy, practice and lived experience of creative health.
Head of our Research Group, Professor Daisy Fancourt, gave evidence highlighting the urgency of the youth mental health crisis and the opportunities presented by creative health approaches. She explained the myriad of psychological, biological, social, and behavioural mechanisms through which arts engagement can affect health outcomes, for example: providing purpose, reducing stress, building identity, encouraging connection, and increasing self-esteem. Despite this evidence, Professor Fancourt noted that we are currently moving in the wrong direction – with arts funding in schools decreasing and now at only £9 per pupil per year.
Professor Fancourt joined the group in calling for action so that all children and young people are given opportunities to access creative, arts and cultural activities, where clinically appropriate, to support and improve their mental health and wellbeing. She also pointed to innovative new ways in which the arts are being brought to young people, including studies we are leading at UCL to offer arts as part of social prescribing for young people on CAMHS waiting lists and to those reporting loneliness in schools.