Creative Minds

Tackling youth mental health challenges in Dundee through creativity, collaboration, and shared leadership.

What is Creative Minds?

Creative Minds is a year-long programme bringing together young people (aged 16–25) and practitioners from healthcare, creative, youth and community settings, to creatively reimagine youth mental health support and community care systems in Dundee.

Through collaboration, creative exploration, and shared leadership, the programme aims to strengthen the City Plan for Dundee 2022-32’s vision of a creative and caring city. Building belonging, confidence, and resilience, Creative Minds amplifies lived experience and demonstrates how young people can creatively shape the systems that support them.

Creative Minds is supported by project funding from NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation and Northwood Trust.

Join us for a Creative Minds sharing event on Mon 23 Nov

Fabric: Creating Care

Fabric is an informal peer-led development journey for those who want to grow their knowledge, connections and agency for leading creative initiatives that will have positive impacts across the city.

Between March and June 2026, Fabric: Creating Care began the first phase of Creative Minds, and gathered a cohort of young people, youth and healthcare workers, and creative practitioners to reimagine systems of care, learn from existing provision, and explore new ideas.

“Marked by conversations, observations, exploring spaces that felt so alive, and learning from incredible people that work hard to keep community breathing. It’s special to see people building a care-led future in Dundee.”
Fabric: Creating Care participant

Read our series of blogs documenting the programme and our final recap for more insights into Fabric: Creating Care:

Collaborating with The Scottish Parliament PACT

We were delighted to welcome The Scottish Parliament’s Participation and Communities Team to join Fabric: Creating Care.

This collaboration offered us the unique opportunity to learn about how lived experience influences policies through deliberative methodology, and to develop a series of recommendations which we informally shared with MSPs during a visit to Holyrood.

MSPs present on the day included: Heather Anderson (MSP Dundee City West), Stephen Gethins (MSP Dundee City East), Michael Marra (MSP NE of Scotland), Yi-pei Chou Turvey (MSP NE of Scotland), Paul McLennan (MSP East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs).

MSP for NE Scotland, Maggie Chapman has since proposed to submit a Motion in Parliament in support of our work.

We were then offered the opportunity to share the Fabric: Creating Care journey in a special display at The Scottish Parliament from Wed 14 Oct–Sat 14 Nov 2026, during the 20th Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.

The display shares a reflection of our process, bringing together the reflections of participants in a record of what supports us, what fails us, and what we’re building together.

“An exciting, inspiring and meaningful project… a great example of using creativity, flexibility and innovative methods. We hope this builds longer term relationships and connections going forward.”
Kate Smith, Participation Manager (PACT)

“It was so insightful learning and exploring art practices in healthcare. The third sector in Dundee is clearly buzzing with creativity and positive energy.”
Chi Kavindele, Head of PACT

Creative Labs

Building on learning from Fabric, we held two full-day co-design sessions to broaden participation, deepen insight, and drive the design of practical solutions and meaningful infrastructure change.

These collaborative workshops brought together young people, healthcare professionals, youth workers, and creative practitioners to develop prototypes and generate ideas, which will be shared through a summary report and at our final sharing event.