Welsh arts programme reopens after helping participant rebuild through creativity

A Welsh arts and health funding programme has reopened for applications, as one participant shares how it helped him rebuild his life through creativity.

In 2025, following a period of mental ill health, Pete Mosey successfully applied to take part in Stepping In, a Wales Arts, Health and Wellbeing Network (WAHWN) programme.

Stepping In was designed to support artists from underrepresented backgrounds – people with lived experience of health conditions, Welsh language practitioners, and those from Cultural and Ethnically diverse, LGBTQ+, and/or D/deaf and disabled backgrounds.

The programme enables participants to access careers in the creative industries through a combination of workshops, training, mentoring and placements.

As part of Stepping In, Pete did a placement with PeopleSpeakUp, a charity supporting communities in Carmarthenshire through storytelling, spoken word, creative writing and participatory arts.

Before joining Stepping In, Pete had left retail to become a freelance copywriter. While the move brought him closer to a creative profession, he found the reality of freelance work to be isolating.

After experiencing mental health challenges during the pandemic, he began attending writing and singing workshops at PeopleSpeakUp, who then highlighted the Stepping In opportunity to Pete last year.

Pete said: “I applied not expecting to be selected. Up until we started, I was feeling like an imposter.

“Then, on the first day, Angela [at WAHWN] kicked off the session by saying she had experienced imposter syndrome. Everyone said the same thing. Suddenly, I thought ‘maybe I’m in the right place after all’.

“The more people came to talk to us about their work and the more I participated in the workshops, the more I realised I had the skills and life experience to really do this.”

Pete’s return to PeopleSpeakUp for his Stepping In placement saw him shadow another artist on their Creative Home Delivery Service.

The project aims to bring creative activities to older people currently receiving, or at risk of needing, domiciliary care in their own homes.

“I was apprehensive at first,” Pete said. “I was used to group settings, so working one-to-one felt quite intense.”

But by working with experienced practitioners, Pete gradually developed an understanding of the approach.

“It’s not about delivering something fixed,” he said. “It’s about connection. Being present with someone and responding to what they need.”

In one of his early sessions, Pete worked with a participant who was writing a novel. He added: “As a writer myself, I was able to draw on my own experience.

“It felt natural to support her, but also to listen and learn from what she was doing. I realised it wasn’t about getting everything right. It was about being alongside someone during their creative process.”

Following the completion of his placement, Pete was offered freelance work with PeopleSpeakUp, which has developed into an ongoing part-time role within the team.

Pete now works as a professional artist for the charity, using his artistic skills to support others facing mental and physical health challenges.

Today, he delivers sessions to a range of people – many of whom are older adults or living with dementia, often experiencing isolation or reduced mobility.

He uses a range of creative approaches, including writing, music and visual arts, and always arrives armed with a guitar and art materials.

“Not everyone wants to write, so it’s important to be flexible,” he said. “It’s about meeting people where they are and supporting them in a way that works for them.

“You build relationships. You can see changes in confidence, mood, and participation – not just in the individual but also in the people around them.”

For Pete, the transition from participant to practitioner has been both unexpected and transformative.

“If you’d asked me a few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be doing this, but the opportunities came at the right time, and I took them. It’s easy to doubt yourself, but sometimes you just have to take that first step,” he said.

Both Stepping In and the Creative Home Delivery Service have received funding through the Arts Council of Wales’ Arts, Health and Wellbeing Lottery programme.

Other partners supporting the first phase of the Stepping In programme included Swansea Bay University Health Board, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Caerphilly County Borough Council Arts Development, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cardiff School of Art.

The Arts Council of Wales’ Arts, Health and Wellbeing Lottery programme has reopened for applications until 27 May, supporting partnerships between arts organisations and health organisations who use creative projects to tackle health challenges in Wales.