Dr. David Stokes has been the Chief Executive of The Halpern Charitable Foundation since March 2019. The charity focuses on tackling mental health and social isolation through the arts, and also runs the well-known Nucleus Arts centres across Medway, supporting locally-based artists and increasing opportunities for creative business.
“At the Halpern Charitable Foundation, we believe in a world where everyone can express their creativity, no matter their age, background, status or health. By making the arts open and accessible to all we aim to promote creative thinking, support the creative economy, and use the healing power of the arts to improve mental and physical health.
The professionalisation of Arts for Health and mental health services
Global healthcare services face considerable pressure to tackle an unprecedented wave of poor mental health, with significant impacts for society and economies. Arts for Health (AfH) offers an effective and efficient way to tackle many of these issues. However, a lack of professional standards and uniform evaluation, means that the sector is prevented from successfully communicating its value and developing its practice. We aim to propose a number of steps towards achieving this professionalisation from a ground up perspective.