ArtEase: Arts for Resilience

Background

Where we live, spend time, how we communicate increasingly drives a wedge between generations, impacting on our mental and physical wellbeing.

In the UK, demand for mental health services for both adults and children is rising. However, many families do not feel culturally or emotionally safe in traditional support settings.

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The Nkwihoreze approach, developed in Rwanda, under local leadership of Uyisenga Ni Imanzi, uses arts-based, culturally rooted activities to strengthen family bonds and help build resilience. Delivered by local psycho-social workers, rooted in the community, this method has proven effective for families facing challenges such as trauma, poor mental health, and social isolation.

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The Nkwihoreze project has helped enhance the capacity of professionals already working with children and families in using creative and arts-based approaches. We have had amazing feedback from the families and practitioners using the tools and our young facilitators who played key part in delivering the programme. 

We beleive in the huge potential of the Nkwihoreze tools and in supporting family resilience.

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Growing the Nkwihoreze family

We have seen significant interest from many organizations in using the Nkwihoreze tools and recognize their great potential for supporting families worldwide. These tools have already been piloted in Nepal, Colombia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, and Canada. You can learn more about our pilot project here.

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During our work, we have also observed varying levels of comfort amongst the participating families to engage in artistic activities. We want to better understand whether these differences present barriers to using and implementing arts-based tools.

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Our new project: ArtEase

Our new Knoweldge Exchange project, ArtEase, builds on the previous work of both Nkwihoreze and Global Exchange projects.

In ArtEase, want to start exploring if and how the Nkwihoreze approach could support families in London. We also want to start investigating the barriers to creative expression families (and practitioners!) might face. We will do this by co-creating a practical tool, with practitioners for practitioners. This tool will be made available to all for free and translated to at least one language other than English.

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In summary we will aim to:

• Understand challenges London-based practitioners face when working intergenerationally with families

• Co-create a “creative enabler”, an activity that can help overcome some of the cultural and psychological barriers to artistic expression

• Build a network of London-based practitioners interested in collaboration and learning from global experiences

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This is a knowledge exchange project, the expertise of London based practitioners, the skills of the artist and the learning from our previous two projects, the knowledge from our partners in Nepal, Indonesia, Colombia and Kyrgyzstan, will be key to the success of this new endeavour. ​

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Project timeline

During early 2026, we will hold two knowledge exchange webinars and one in-person co-creation workshop. The workshop will be co-facilitated by an established London based artist experienced in delivering community engagement events.

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We will soon be looking for expressions of interest from London based professionals who use arts-based approaches in their practice to support child and family wellbeing (or those keen to learn).

From the expressions of interest, we will select up to six practitioners to join us on this journey.

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The link to express your interest, the full eligibility criteria and more detailed information, will be made available on this page from 27th November 2025. 

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Project Timeline:

January 2026: Webinar 1 (1 hour)

January/February: In person day workshop in London at UCL,  refreshments and lunch provided

February: Webinar 2 (1 hour)

March/April: Dissemination and sharing of the co-created tool through the Changemakers platform and via our social media.