A few words from Mandy Murphy, Deputy Chair

We had a fantastic line up of speakers at the event on Thursday 26 February 2026.  What an honour to collaborate with Dr. Justin Varney and Jean King from DHSC. Listening to the speakers at this event left me both fascinated about work and research in this field and some sobering messages that peaked my curiosity.

What struck me most throughout this session was how much of the creative industries I had taken for granted and aspects of health and risk I had not appreciated fully, until you look closer.

From the design and engineering of stage sets, to the physical demands placed on dancers, to the psychological load carried by musicians and performers navigating competition, precarity and public scrutiny, and the challenges with being a freelancer and less access to health and wellbeing  services we see in many employer organisations these days. Every speaker revealed a layer of work that is largely invisible to audiences.

Again and again, health and wellbeing surfaced as something very practical: noise exposure, injury prevention, fatigue, mental health, access to early physio rather than the abstract ‘nice to have’ option we see so often. We heard examples of employers who have embedded this well, offering on-site physios, psychology support, and other forms of accessible support such as training leaders to assess and sign post early for interventions, and the difference this makes was striking. Speakers spoke about where support existed, performers felt valued. And when people feel valued, they perform better. And the other point I was taking home was while skill and talent may get someone on stage, sustaining a career for these performers requires care for the whole human behind the performance, and everyone around them.

There are many questions that lingered such as “If the benefits are clear, the evidence strong (which it was), and the costs not prohibitive, why isn’t this already mainstream? And what would it take to make health and wellbeing a standard feature of creative work, rather than a privilege for the few?” It’s possibly a question that sits in many industries where we work and maybe there will be lessons learned from other industries to this one.

So the conversation will continue in this space as we will collaborate with DHSC on establishing a working group to support taking these conversations further.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Working Well in the Creative Industries: Staying Creative for Longer. Exploring the intersection of health, work, and creativity
  • Laura Friedner, Director of People and Culture, National Theatre
  • Click here to download the presentation

 

 

  • Help for Musicians
  • Georgia Hannant, Chair Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Benevolent Fund
  • Click here to download the presentation

 

 

 

  • How creative industries support and enable good Mental Health in their workforce and the wider population
  • Laura Friedner, Director of People and Culture, National Theatre
  • Click here to download the presentation

 

  • Chair Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Benevolent Fund
  • Georgia Hannant, Chair Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Benevolent Fund
  • Click here to download the presentation