The first in a year-long series of events celebrating Lime Arts turning 50, a special arts and health conference was convened on Wednesday 22nd March 2023 with special guest speaker Michael Rosen at Manchester Foundation Trust’s (MFT) Oxford Road Campus

Lime based at MFT, began life as Hospital Arts in 1973 and is the oldest continually operating hospital-based arts team in the UK. Lime has been at the forefront of creative innovation in healthcare settings for half a century. The conference explored Lime’s work past, present and future and gave healthcare professionals the opportunity to experience a Lime workshop with one of their professional lead artists, and also learn how Lime’s work sits within the Greater Manchester Creative Health Strategy.

“Lime continues to ensure our patients and staff are at the heart of compassionate creative projects, drawing on the rich cultural legacy of arts in health in Manchester, and complimenting the delivery of excellent clinical care at MFT. During the Covid 19 pandemic Lime provided invaluable support to our staff through creative well-being projects and I am thrilled to see this work continue and expand, impacting thousands of staff and patients every year. Lime is indeed a jewel in the MFT crown” Kathy Cowell OBE DL – MFT Chairman

Chairman of the Trust, Kathy Cowell, opened proceedings in the morning, and after lunch we heard from our special guest, former Children’s Laureate, writer and poet Michael Rosen who gave a keynote speech exploring how the arts can ‘care for the carers’.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the conference.

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