Our Creative Health Hubs kick off in Cork and Limerick

Developing an “arts on referral” approach between hospitals and community settings.

We kicked off 2019 with the exciting launch of our Creative Health Hubs in Cork and Limerick. Helium Arts’ Creative Health Hub model connects our hospital-based work with our community-based activities. Working closely with the medical community, we are developing an “arts on referral” approach.

In hospital clinics children, young people and their families test creative engagement activities and  get to know our artists. From here, they have the opportunity to be referred by their doctors or parents to Helium’s community programme, where they will participate in a series of workshops over four to six weeks. Workshops use the arts in their many forms including, painting, crafting, animation, adventure arts, printmaking, sound design, film-making and much more.

Helium’s Creative Health Hubs provide a meaningful creative and social outlet, supporting the social and emotional challenges that many children living with long-term medical conditions face in their daily lives. Our artists develop activities and workshops that encourage expression, collaboration and decision making, and promote creativity and wellbeing.

Currently, our Creative Health Hubs are available in Cork University Hospital led by artist Siobhan Clancy and University Hospital Limerick led by artist Paul Bokslag, with community-based workshops starting in March in each location.

If you would like to find out more, please contact: info@helium.ie or 044 93 96 960.

Helium Arts’ Creative Health Hubs are supported by the Arts Council. The Cork Hub is supported by the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund and is taking place in partnership with Cork University Hospital’s Arts, Health and Wellbeing  Programme. The Limerick Hub is taking place in partnership with University Hospital Limerick.