Principal Investigator

Victoria is Professor of Behavioural Science at the University of Surrey and Honorary Professor, Geller Institute for Ageing and Memory (School of Biomedical Sciences), University of West London. She is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Victoria has a PhD in psychology from the University of Nottingham where she worked for 12 years. She retains an honorary position at the University of Nottingham Medical School. Her research interests focus on creativity and mental health and multi-sensory approaches to dementia care. She is co-executive editor of the journal Arts and Health: an international journal for research, policy and practice. She serves on the scientific advisory board for Boots UK archive. 

Co-Investigator, Research Fellow

Chloe is a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey and Associate Fellow at the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth. They led the creation and development of Beyond Culture Box during their time working with the University of Exeter.

Chloe is an academic researcher, writer, and queer creative health practitioner. They have expertise in health research, including the Medical Humanities, health geography, and Arts & Health. They completed their PhD in 2022 on the therapeutic cultures of mindfulness, and have recently published my academic work in journal articles, edited volumes, and self-published zines. They recently self-published a zine ‘journeys with mindfulness’ that traces 6 journeys with mindfulness.

Methodologically, they have worked with forms of autoethnography, ethnography, and creative participatory research. In their work, they attempt to foreground feminist, queer, and decolonial knowledges, particularly in relation to mindfulness.

Co-Investigator

Hannah is a Senior Research Fellow at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London and associate fellow at University of East Anglia. 

Hannah has a background in the arts and in gerontology. She has a PhD in the arts and ageing from King’s College, London where she has worked for 15 years. Her research interests focus on the arts, creativity, ageing, dementia and mental health. She works closely with people with dementia in the community and in care homes.

As Senior Researcher at the Wellcome (Created Out of Mind Hub 2016-2018) she explored artistic co-creativity with people with dementia.

Errol is Artistic Director and CEO of Culture& which works to open up the arts and heritage sectors to a more diverse workforce and audience. Errol was awarded his PhD from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, where his research focused on postcolonial artistic responses to museums. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of West London in 2017.

He has substantial experience of community engagement around mental health and the arts and was formerly Joint Programme Lead at the Sainsbury Centre of Mental Health and Programme Manager at the Department of Health Race for Health programme. He was programme manager at Arts Council England, Inspire Curatorial Fellowship Programme; Head of Arts at the Mental Health Foundation and artistic director of the Anxiety Arts Festival London 2014, Acting Out Nottingham 2015, Hysteria 2017-2018 and Cyborgs 2019 public engagement programmes. Culture& has also delivered programmes using creative approaches to support people living with dementia: Imagination Café, 2018 and Memory Archives, 2019.

Hilary is a dementia specialist with a special interest in the arts, safeguarding and staff support. Her skills lie in project management, service improvement, training, resource and practice development.

Hilary is the Executive Director of the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA), a charity and membership organisation that supports the care sector to prioritise wellbeing. NAPA promotes the importance of activities, arts and engagement by providing Advice and Information and Learning and Development services. Their expertise lies in the development and circulation of activity ideas and resources to the care sector, especially care homes and in developing the skills of the workforce to provide opportunities for meaningful engagement with activities and the arts.

Chief Executive, Arts4Dementia

Penny has nearly 20 years’ experience in the charity sector. As Executive Lead for the National Suicide Prevention Alliance she helped redefine their strategy and priorities, doubled their membership and engagement, and established a network of people with lived experience who are trained and supported to influence change in policy and practice. She previously led The Reader’s work in London, establishing their ‘reading for well-being’ programme there, with a focus on reducing loneliness, building confidence and connection, and enhancing people’s understanding of themselves and others. She learned to love poetry while running reading groups, and saw first-hand the value of holding creative spaces that can help people flourish.

Associate Director, Arts & Culture Exeter

I have a background in museum and gallery learning with a particular focus on creativity and the creative process. My role is to steer and guide the delivery of the Arts and Culture strategy. This involves lots of great conversations with fascinating people – both inside and outside the university – quite a bit of planning and writing, many meetings, and occasional workshop delivery. There is so much amazing creative activity happening here and I want to share it as far and wide as possible.

Curators, Bill Douglas Cinema Museum

Dr Phil Wickham is the curator of The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. He acquires artefacts, oversees the operations of the museum, and works with students and academic staff to highlight the stories the collections can tell us about moving images and the people that made and viewed them. Phil also co-teaches the 3rd year module ‘British Screens’, which looks at the history of moving images in Britain through the holdings of the museum and includes an assessed exhibition. The museum also takes on a number of student volunteers and many of these have gone on to work in the heritage and culture sector.