Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Participatory Grant Making Social Prescribing Awards

Benefits of Creative Health

Personal Empowerment: Creative health allows individuals to take an active role in their wellbeing, offering them tools for self-expression, healing, and personal growth.

Improved Mental Health: Engaging in creative activities can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress, promoting emotional resilience and mental wellbeing.

Enhanced Physical Health: Creative practices have been linked to improved physical health outcomes, such as reduced blood pressure, better immune function, and pain management.

Social Connection: Participating in group creative activities helps foster social bonds, reducing feelings of isolation and building a sense of community.

Cognitive and Emotional Development: Creative engagement can stimulate cognitive function, enhance problem-solving skills, and support emotional expression, especially in those facing mental health challenges.

We recognise, particularly for some VCSE organisations Creative Health is a new concept. You may have a great idea but perhaps lack the arts, culture, or heritage based expertise. You will be given the opportunity on the Expression of Interest to say if you would like us to connect you with a creative professional. We can not guarantee this but we will try our best

The following button will give you access to a document with examples of Creative Health projects:

These awards are open to anyone with a tangible connection to Bradford District and Craven. We would love to hear from:

Community groups and organisations
Grassroots groups
Artists
Creators
Academics
Researchers

We want to hear from anyone with an innovative idea to support peoples’ health and wellbeing through the use of arts and culture.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate a tangible connection or meaningful link to the local community, geography, or cultural landscape of Bradford District or Craven.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

Service or Impact: Your project will directly benefit the residents of Bradford District or Craven, addressing health and wellbeing challenges specific to the area.
Residency or Location:You or your organisation are based in Bradford District or Craven.
Existing Relationships: You have a history of working with communities, organisations, or cultural groups in the area.
Cultural Knowledge: Your project reflects an understanding of the district’s unique needs, heritage, or diversity.
Collaborative Links: You are collaborating with local partners, artists, or organisations rooted in Bradford District or Craven.
Community Engagement: You have established networks or relationships within local communities that your project will build upon or deepen.

These awards support innovative community focused projects that use arts and culture to address health challenges and improve wellbeing. Health Priority/ Health Inclusion Groups are typically community-based initiatives aimed at addressing the health needs of marginalised or underserved groups.

These groups focus on people who may face barriers to accessing mainstream healthcare services due to factors such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, homelessness, or immigration status. The goal is to ensure that everyone regardless of background or circumstances, has access to the care and support they need to lead healthier lives.

• People with long term health conditions
• Individuals facing mental health challenges
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• Gypsy and traveller communities
• Those affected by dementia
• People experiencing homelessness

We are also open to applications that address other groups or health conditions, provided that you clearly explain in your proposal why these areas are also important and represent significant needs.we are also open to applications that address other groups or health conditions, provided that you clearly explain in your proposal why these areas are also important and represent significant needs.

At its core, this programme is to support creative, cultural and heritage activity, but projects that utilise green and blue spaces – like parks, rivers, and woodland – are also encouraged.

All awards are for between £2000 and £6000 and must be used for direct delivery.

All funded projects should run for no less than 6 weeks and must be completed by 1 Jan 2026

• Projects running less than 6 months will not be asked to complete a written progress update but will be subject to a project visit by the VCSA Grant Manager and or other identified stakeholders.

• Project visits should take place during a delivery session.

• Projects running for more than 6 months will be required to complete a progress update.

• We encourage projects to be as creative as possible with progress updates. If you want to keep a Vlog, undertake Vox Pops or Talking Heads style interviews fantastic… For those who prefer written reports a traditional form will be available.

• All projects in receipt of an award are required to take part in a participatory evaluation showcase event during September 2025.

• For the Participatory Evaluation event each award recipient will be required to develop a showcase stall demonstrating the work they have undertaken; members of the public, stakeholders and beneficiaries will be invited in to take part in the evaluation process. More details will be released closer to the date.

These awards can be used to fund a wide range of support activities but there are also restrictions. Projects must demonstrate sustained engagement with participants. One-off events are not eligible for funding. If your project includes specific time-bound activities, you must clearly outline in your Expression of Interest how these contribute to the overall Creative Health programme for the City of Culture year. More information about what can and can’t be funded is available using the button below: