Blue Monday, 19 January, is often referred to as the most depressing day of the year, maybe because of the cold and often damp weather, the hangover from the festive period or the list of resolutions already being thrown in the bin.
So, if you are feeling the January blues, we want to emphasise the link between culture and your mental health and wellbeing.
At the heart of our London Borough of Culture programme is a commitment to Creative Health, embedding arts and culture into the way you look after yourself when things get rough.
We believe that culture heals and we are aiming to integrate creativity and culture into the way we engage with health and social care.
Sing to Thrive
This might surprise you, but that late night karaoke session or weekly choir has a positive effect on your physical and mental health, from improving heart rate and blood pressure, to helping the brain repair itself from damage. Find out more about the various benefits.
Sing to Thrive is a celebration of singing. In Spring 2026, a series of events will take place across the borough that feature existing choirs as well as ‘come and sing’ opportunities for the community, promoting the health and social benefits of singing.
Culturally Mindful
Culturally Mindful is an ambitious new Creative Health training and residency programme taking place across Wandsworth. It brings together Global Majority artists, healthcare providers, and grassroots organisations to co-design new approaches to health and wellbeing support.
10 Global Majority Artists are currently completing residencies with some of the most vulnerable residents of Wandsworth, including patients at our local hospitals, carers, young people in Battersea and Springfield, adults with learning disabilities and long term mental health conditions and South-Asian women and girls in Roehampton after receiving specialist training in Creative Health, Trauma-Informed Practice and Mental Health.
Heritage Memory Boxes for Dementia
Another way that we are using the power of culture to improve the health and wellbeing of Wandsworth residents is through the Heritage Memory Boxes for Dementia.
Running from November 2025 to January 2027, these bespoke interactive time capsules - filled with sensory objects from Wandsworth Heritage Collection, archive materials, and recordings - will be used to spark connection, trigger memories, and support wellbeing for people living with dementia in care homes, sheltered housing and community spaces.
Bringing Mindfulness to Prisons
One of our Microgrant Recipients, Reuben Abraham, is aiming to bring creative outlets to the residents at HMP Wandsworth, helping to expand access to meditative practices in places where mental wellness support is critically needed. While cycling past the prison he realised that, despite living in Wandsworth, the inmates were unable to participate in the London Borough of Culture programme, and decided to start bringing events to them.
Using mandala painting and journalling the aim is to help participants discover a practical tool for managing stress and cultivating mindfulness that they can continue practising independently, both during and after their incarceration. Read more of what Reuben says about his project.
Year-Round Supported Projects
We are proud to be supporting incredible health and wellbeing projects all around the borough - including projects like Music Therapy in Schools, giving young people the chance to express themselves through sound and play, MovementWorks, running dance and movement therapy for children and young people on the autism spectrum across the borough, Art & Soul’s Art for Wellbeing drop-in workshops running alongside Chantelle’s Kitchen in Roehampton, and Breathe Melodies for Mums in Tooting, specifically for new mums experiencing low mood and isolation.
More Creative Health and Wellbeing Events
Winter is a time that many people feel down and that is why we are hosting a variety of Winter Wellbeing events over the next couple of months. From a sea-shanty singing group for men over 45+ who are struggling with their mental health to winter walks for wellbeing and writing. That is just the start, there is so much more to get involved with – find out more.