Headway Arts (UK)

Project Coordinators
A unique pioneering arts organisation and inspiring independent charity.

Headway Arts specialise in high quality participatory arts projects creating inspirational events and platforms to offer disadvantaged people the chance to contribute to the cultural life of their communities. Headway Arts particularly aim to include people who are learning disabled and to champion their creative ambition. The highly experienced forward thinking company is committed to excellence and is continually developing its inclusive practice and co-creative partnerships locally, nationally and internationally.

hwa1Established in 1995 by Frances Castle (Chief Executive) and Alison Walton-Robson (Creative Director) and based in Blyth, the company has an extensive portfolio of multi award winning socially engaged and highly creative projects which support fuller inclusion in the arts. The inspiring artistic programme offers accessible projects which break down barriers to participation and environments which support creative development, wellbeing, lifelong learning, positive experience and personal progression.

Over many years Headway Arts has pioneered good practice in inclusive arts and worked co-creatively with over 100,000 people, offering many of the UK’s most accomplished socially engaged artists fantastic opportunities to train, learn, grow and develop inclusive practice within local, national and international projects. Headway Arts’ unique ‘CoCreART methodology’ is at the heart – a people centred model applied across all art forms including: theatre, dance, circus, visual arts, writing, printmaking, outdoor arts, carnival, digital/multimedia installations and film, and furthers their humanitarian vision.

This trademark CoCreART model defined by Headway Arts as ‘working together towards a shared creative goal’ has been brought to its European projects initially through the Grundtvig programme and has been a successfully disseminated, much replicated model offering inspiration for groups across Europe, having been awarded ‘Most Innovative Project in Europe 2009’ by The British Council/Ecotec.

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