Our Impact
Creativity Works believes passionately that creativity can make a significant difference to people’s lives by inspiring and supporting them to have fun and be creative, learn new transferable skills, improve their health and wellbeing and connect with their communities.
We work with our partners to define clear outcomes which will result from our projects, including:
Health and Social Outcomes:
- Improved mental health and well-being as measured using the Warwick Edinburgh Scale
- Increased community participation
- Improved wellbeing, e.g. confidence and self-esteem
- increased engagement in meaningful activity
Learning and development Outcomes
- Increased number of progression and development opportunities for participants
- Better access to information about opportunities for progression and development
- Improved and increased partnership working amongst organisations working with people with mental health problems and better targeted initiatives which listen and respond to participants’ needs and personal objectives
- A body of evidence about the process from engagement to progression which can be used to inform development and integration
- A group of trained artists with the skills and commitment to work in community and health settings
Economic Outcomes:
- Early Intervention and prevention initiatives create long term savings in social care and health services
- Increased self-run community groups increases volunteering, community engagement and potentially social enterprise
- Increased employment of artists and community organisers
A piece of research from the New Economics Foundation backs up our knowledge of the type of change that organisations like ourselves can help bring about:
The Catalysts for Community Action and Investment report: 2010, shows that for every £1 a local authority invests, £15 of value is created. For example:
“for an investment of £233,655 in community development activity across four authorities the social return was approximately £3.5 million. This is an incredible return for statutory investment.”
Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive of the Community Development Foundation says:
“Without investment in community development we will pay the costs of lower levels of well-being and an inactive, disempowered population, which history tells us will be borne by our most deprived communities. I encourage all community development workers, their supporters and investors to use this evidence to further advocate for investment in community development in their area and the positive social change it will bring about.”
In 2010 research was carried out by Dr. Barbra Teater & Dr. Mark Baldwin at Bath University, into the long lasting benefits and impact of our work. They found that our work:
Promotes Personal Growth & Development and improves quality of Life
Improves Health & Well-being
Increases Motivation and Confidence
Raises Self-Esteem
Realises Creative Potential
Increases Independence
Creates Routes to Education/ Employment
Increases Understanding of Different Artforms
Promotes Social Change
Supports Community through Periods of Transition, Redevelopment and Regeneration
Gains a Sense of Community
Increases Social Capital
Discover more on the impact of our work
Project Reports
Learn about the impact of two of our key projects within Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Socially Engaged Art
Read more about how we define Socially Engaged Art and how it is incorporated within our work.
