The 2024-25 ‘Let's Gets Social dlr’ programme includes a series of capacity building professional development sessions for artists, creatives, and healthcare professionals. It also incorporates four creative projects in healthcare/community settings, supported by mentoring to further assist development. 

dlr County has one of the fastest ageing populations nationally. dlr Arts Office has a history of developing arts and health as a distinct area of practice since 2007. This work is in direct response to our changing demographics, and we have developed excellent working partnerships across the health sector over the years. From our work in this area, we understand the need to continue to assist artists and creatives to develop their practice and gain insights into the needs of people as they age in care settings and in the wider community. 

The aim of this capacity building strand is to support increased and sustained activity in creativity and wellbeing in dlr for the future.  We identified Sarah Cairns and Tess Leak as uniquely placed to deliver this programme strand. Through their training we have supported a greater understanding about the impact of creativity for participants, and explored collaborative practice, co-creation and multisensory based practices to ensure greater inclusivity for all involved. The programme started in September 2024 with the training element completed in March 2025. The 4 creative projects will be completed by end of October 2025.  

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.