Coastal Community & Creative Health Symposium
Making Waves: Celebrating Creative Health in Blackpool
As a proud partner of the Coastal Community & Creative Health project, we were delighted to join the Making Waves symposium at Blackpool and The Fylde College on 17 September. The day celebrated the achievements of a five-year collaboration across Blackpool, Brighton and Weston-Super-Mare, and brought together community organisations, artists, academics, health leaders and participants to reflect on the impact of creative health and how to make it sustainable for the future.
The day began with Creative Blackpool's networking breakfast, where local practitioners shared insights and ways of working from their creative health projects across the town. We were also introduced to Creative Blackpool's upcoming Cultural Passport app.
This was followed by the Making Waves Discussion Forum, featuring presentations and lively discussion with local, regional and national leaders, academics and artists. Boingboing Foundation was delighted to contribute a presentation alongside Kristof Santa, and Mathew Parker. Between presentations, workshops ranged from collaborative tower building to creative sewing, and a performance by Electric Pink Voices after lunch brought real energy to the room, especially when we all joined in.
The most inspiring moments came from participants themselves. People spoke about how creative activity had helped them grow in confidence and improve their wellbeing. A powerful reminder of why this work matters, and we're looking forward to the research findings still to come, including work on how creative activities support positive psychosocial outcomes for young people.
Kerry Vasiliou (Partnership Director for Creative Blackpool) and Barbara Mezes (co-principal Investigator Coastal Community & Creative Health Project, University of Liverpool) presenting on Blackpool City of Culture
Emma Rowicki (BBF) Matthew Parker (Healthwatch Blackpool) and Kristof Santa (University of Liverpool) Presenting on the creative workshops as part of the Coastal Community and Creative Health Project
We also had the chance to explore Life in a Coastal Town, an exhibition of projects led by artists Henry Iddon, Jayne Simpson and Joe Booth, created with groups exploring substance misuse, grief, loss and youth mental health. It's on at The Gallery, Blackpool School of Arts, until 9 October 2026, and well worth a visit.
Creative activity for attendees desgined by Artist Joe Booth
Thank you to Coastal Community & Creative Health especially Sue Flowers and Helen Shearn for organising the day, to Blackpool and The Fylde College for hosting, and to all the speakers and everyone who came and contributed. It was a fantastic day of learning, reflection and celebration, and a clear demonstration of the power of creativity to strengthen communities and improve lives.