Art of Wellbeing - Consultant/Facilitator Brief

Who we are:

The Art of Wellbeing steering group is made up of the following representatives and organisations from across the county of Hertfordshire:

• Kate Belinis, Chief Executive Officer, Community Development Action Hertfordshire
• Suzanne Rider, Therapeutic Counsellor
• Jane Phillips, Artist
• Susan Jessop, Project Manager, Loneliness Project
• Jordana Peake, Epidemiologist and Evaluation Consultant
• Carrie Washington, Director, BEEE Creative
• Helen Barnett, Creative Director, Trestle Theatre Company
• Gerry Strohm, Director, Junction 7 Creatives
• Elaine Johnson, Arts Development Officer, Three Rivers District Council
• Annie Smith, Community Partnerships and Wellbeing Officer, Dacorum Borough Council

Background and context:
The steering group was formed during Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020 (HYOC2020). During the year a Public Health Evaluation Report was undertaken to measure the impact of HYOC2020 arts and culture activities on an individual’s wellbeing, which can be accessed here:-
'Exploring how arts and cultural activities conducted as part of Hertfordshire’s Year of Culture impact on the wellbeing of individuals who are lonely or social isolated' *

The report concluded that taking part in creative activities ‘leads to improvements in feelings of physical, social, emotional and psychological wellness’ *. The steering group came together through a shared desire to create a framework, which supports the delivery of more creative activities across Hertfordshire, to support and improve its residents’ health and wellbeing.

Structure
There is currently an Art of Wellbeing steering group (members listed above) and a wider Art of Wellbeing Consortium of arts, social, health and education professionals and organisations from across the county.

As stated in the AoW Manifesto, the ambition is to plan and deliver a three-year cultural health and wellbeing programme, managed by a project co-ordinator, focussing on a number of key areas which could include:

o Social prescribing
o Obesity
o Mental health and wellbeing
o Loneliness and social isolation
o Equality of access to cultural activity for all

Please see attached documents:
• Art of Wellbeing Manifesto
• Groups structure flow chart
• Draft funding application

What we need

The steering group is now looking for someone to facilitate a session with them using a Theory of Change, or similar model to address the following points:-

 Governance - clarify the roles and responsibilities of the steering group and consortium; there is currently no fixed lead, so responsibilities are informally shared between members of the steering group and need to be defined
 Agree funding priorities - identify our aims and objectives and what we are initially seeking funding for (refer back to original draft funding application)
 Agree and set out an action plan and timeline Identify lead organisation/named contact for the funding application

Facilitator skills and requirements

• Experienced creative consultant or cultural facilitator with an established practice
• Experience of facilitating discussion around development and running of cultural steering
groups
• Previous experience and understanding of working on and evaluating health and wellbeing projects
• An understanding of Hertfordshire’s cultural landscape

Fees and Timescale

• May-June 2022

Please submit a quote inclusive of any VAT and travel for the following:

• 1.5 hour pre-meeting to discuss aims, objectives/outcomes and structure for the facilitated sessions (this can be done online)
• Planning time and facilitation of:
o A half day session (up to 4 hours, including a break)
o A shorter follow up session (around 2 hours)

Both in-person at a Hertfordshire based venue (subject to COVID restrictions and safety, otherwise delivered online)

• A write up of recommendations from the facilitated sessions, to help the group move forward
• Total number of hours – 11 max. including all planning and prep time

Please send your quote, a CV and any references by Tuesday 3rd May 2022 via email to:

Elaine Johnson, Arts Development Officer, Three Rivers District Council
elaine.johnson@threerivers.gov.uk