Culturally Mindful
Culturally Mindful is an ambitious new Creative Health residency and training programme taking place across Wandsworth throughout 2025–2026. Part of Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture programme, it brings together Global Majority artists, healthcare providers, and grassroots organisations to co-design new approaches to health and wellbeing support.
Born out of a recognised need to address stark racial and cultural inequalities in health access and outcomes, this project is a bold step toward more inclusive, representative, and community-rooted creative health practice.
What Is Culturally Mindful?
- A six-month programme offering paid training, shadowing, mentoring, and residencies for 10 Global Majority artists
- Residency partnerships with clinical and community host organisations across Wandsworth
- Co-designed creative health activities with and for underserved groups—including disabled adults, young people, carers, and people affected by ill-health
- A commitment to cultural humility, collaboration and care, working across sectors to build long-lasting change
Why It Matters
Wandsworth is one of London’s most diverse boroughs—with nearly half of residents from ethnic minority groups—yet these communities face persistent health inequalities. From over-representation in crisis care to under-referral to appropriate services, the gaps are stark.
Culturally Mindful responds by embedding culturally competent artists within both healthcare and community settings, creating space for connection, expression and healing that reflects the realities of those it serves.
Who’s Involved?
We are partnering with pioneering clinical hosts including:
- St George’s Hospital
- Queen Mary’s Hospital
- South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust
- Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
And with brilliant grassroots organisations such as:
- Roehampton Wellbeing for Women and Girls
- Share Community
- Youth Battersea
- Wandsworth Carers
- 575 Wandsworth Road (National Trust)
Each of these organisations is playing a vital role in hosting artist residencies that are co-created with their service users.
Meet the Artists
Our first cohort includes visual artists, poets, theatre-makers, dancers and public artists—all from the Global Majority, all deeply rooted in community practice. They bring rich lived experience, creative skill, and a shared passion for making health and wellbeing support more inclusive, joyful, and responsive.
What Will Happen?
From May 2025 to January 2026, artists will:
- Receive specialist training in Creative Health, Trauma-Informed Practice and Mental Health
- Shadow staff in clinical and community settings
- Work closely with hosts to co-design creative health programmes
- Deliver inclusive and accessible arts-based activities
- Reflect on their learning through action learning sets and professional supervision
Our Vision
Culturally Mindful aims to:
- Diversify the creative health workforce
- Improve health outcomes for Wandsworth’s underserved communities
- Build long-term partnerships between the NHS, local government, artists and community organisations
- Empower artists as leaders in health-based work
- Through this project, we hope to spark a shift in how creativity is understood, valued, and embedded in care.
Stay Connected
Follow our journey as we share insights, stories and learning from the programme. And don’t miss the Creativity & Wellbeing Week 2026, when the full impact of Culturally Mindful will be shared with the public.