Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools Award

The Chris Drinkwater Award celebrates creative health partnership projects in primary schools across the North East and North Cumbria. 

Professor Chris Drinkwater CBE was an inner-city GP in Newcastle for 23 years. Chris was also our previous Arts and Creativity Lead for the Child Health and Wellbeing Network, and when he stood down from the role the network he established the Chris Drinkwater Awards to acknowledge his generous contribution to the network and his passion for Creative Health, especially with primary school-aged children. 

Creative health approaches address health and wellbeing through engagement in creative activities such as dance, drama, visual art, film making, music, and heritage. 

To find out more about the Award, including examples of past winners and other creative health projects, please visit the Healthier Together website.

The Chris Drinkwater Award is administered by North East Museums, in partnership with the North East and North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network. 

The Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools awards will be changing in 2026 to a grant to fund more longer term projects.

Grants of up to £6,000 will be available and we are looking to fund two year projects that will start in September 2026.

Criteria for applications are: creative health projects based in Cumbria and the North East, that build resilience in primary school children before they transition to secondary school. 

Projects will ideally be partnerships between primary schools, arts and cultural organisations or creative practitioners. Applications can be submitted by either.

Projects will be reviewed after one year focussing on the difference and the impact that has been made.

Applications are now open. Closing date for applications is 8 June 2026.

Further information including how to apply is available here. If you would like to discuss further please contact Anthony Gonzalez. 

The 2025-26 Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools Awards were in partnership with the North East and North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network. The Awards recognise collaboration between education and the arts for children's wellbeing in primary schools across the North East and North Cumbria.

The winners of the 2025-26 Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools Award were Changing Relations with their project Sometimes it Hurts.

Take a look at 2025-26 Chris Drinkwater Creative Health Awards projects showcase.

Sometimes it Hurts is a creative health project initiated, developed and led by Changing Relations using arts-based resources to address social and emotional learning for primary school children about domestic abuse and neglect. 20% of all children will experience domestic abuse: supporting them to access the help they need is critical to mitigating the long-term impact of this.

Sometimes it Hurts is based on fictional stories which were co-created with young people based on their own experiences and observations. These creative stimuli are used to encourage engagement with different experiences of domestic abuse in an age-appropriate way using creative activities including drawing, collage and performance. Training for teachers develops their knowledge, skills and confidence to facilitate their delivery of the programme and effective support for children.

Sometimes it Hurts resources are designed to be delivered by teachers in a classroom setting, small groups or one-to-one to meet specific needs.

Key benefits of the programme are: 

• Children being better able to recognise when behaviour they experience is problematic
• Improvements in children’s emotional literacy and ability to express themselves
• Children learning constructive ways to make themselves feel better in difficult situations
• Children having better emotional regulation
• Children being better able to identify safe adults who they can approach for help
• Creating environments where it feels safe to raise experiences with an adult
• Teachers feeling confident in their ability to support children who approach them.

As one teacher summarised: "This project is giving children a voice, and that alone is changing lives." Take a look at the animation which accompanies Sometimes It Hurts.