Andrea Mann

Andrea Mann is a screenwriter based in the UK

  • ABOUT ME
  • ABOUT MY WRITING
  • MUSIC
  • MUSINGS
  • CONTACT

Arts, Health and Wellbeing: My Speech to Westminster Council

01 May 2019 by Andrea //

This is the speech I gave at Westminster City Council’s full council meeting tonight, in a debate about Public Health. I highly recommend reading all of Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to the high school students. 🙂

When a group of high school students contacted him as part of an English assignment, the writer Kurt Vonnegut gave them the following advice:

“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.”

Whether we’re participating in them as creators, audience members, or something in between – the arts make our souls grow. They make us feel ourselves; feel connected; feel better – sometimes in more ways than one. Because there’s an overwhelming body of evidence to show that taking part in creative and cultural activities can dramatically improve our health and wellbeing.

This connection between health and creativity was backed up as recently as 2017, in the report produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Their two-year inquiry found that arts engagement improves psychological, social and emotional wellbeing in people of all ages.

It can reduce stress, anxiety and depression, social isolation and loneliness; it can promote healthy ageing; help with the self-management of long-term health conditions; tackle health inequalities and begin to address obesity.

The report also found that engagement in the arts influences childhood development, and shapes educational and employment opportunities. It prevents illness and infirmity from developing in the first place and worsening in the longer term.

And it doesn’t just help us as individuals: it improves the wellbeing of groups, whole communities and our wider society – strengthening bonds between us, and promoting community cohesion.

And for those who care about the bottom line: the report also found that arts engagement saves money in social care and the health service.

Now, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to arts offerings here in Westminster – but I don’t need to tell you that this rich cultural scene is not enjoyed equally by everyone.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Musings Tagged With: Arts, creativity, Culture, politics, Westminster, westminster council

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Substack

© Copyright 2025 Andrea Mann

Add new entry logo

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More

Accept Decline Cookie Settings
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
  • Always Active
    Necessary
    Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

  • Marketing
    Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

  • Analytics
    Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.

  • Preference
    Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.

  • Unclassified
    Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.

Powered by WP Cookie consent
Cookie Settings