Let’s Get Acquainted with our Creative In Place Nick Davis

Nick Davis – Arts Derbyshire, Creative In Place (Wirksworth)

In December 2025, I started in the new position of Creative in Place in my home town of Wirksworth, Derbyshire. The focus of the role is to bring innovation to primary care, to act as a bridge between a community and its Primary Care Practice Team – in this case the people of Wirksworth and Hannage Brook Medical Centre. The intention is to bring a creative perspective into a GP practice, expanding the spectrum of approaches that are available within its work, ultimately broadening the role of the practice into being a key player in local community development.

It’s always an interesting moment, coming into a new job. Questions bubble up in anticipation – What will it be like? How will I get on? All the more so, it seems, when starting a role which is entirely unprecedented. We’ve all heard of Artists in Residence, but Creatives in Place – what would one of those actually be? Well, it looks like, it seems, at this point, actually: Me. Blimey.

About me: I am first and foremost, a musician; primarily a guitarist. I have worked in a variety of professional roles over the years. In healthcare, I spent a decade as an NHS addiction treatment specialist. In education, I’ve been a primary school teacher. In music, I have been a solo artist, a session musician, a recording engineer, a guitar teacher, a creative mentor, a workshop leader, a composer, a producer, a mastering engineer, a mixing engineer, a promoter, and, perhaps most importantly to the Creative in Place role, a healthcare musician. Since 2018, my company, District Musicians, has been offering specialist music sessions to people living with dementia. You might have heard us on BBC Radio Derby, or read about us in Derbyshire Life magazine. I am biased of course, but we are pretty special.

An important thing I have learned about Creativity (capital C – it’s important stuff this) and health from my work at District Musicians is that Creativity – and Creative Thinking in its most general sense – can have a huge impact on how people in a community feel, and how they and those around them cope with the challenges of life. The benefits for your health and wellbeing of doing something Creative are, frankly, improbably enormous. If you don’t believe me, look at the evidence base. If scientific journals aren’t your thing, have a read of Daisy Fancourt’s ‘Art Cure’ (or listen to her talking on a podcast, you’ll get the general gist). Outstanding.

So: A Creative in Place eh? What is that in practice? What do they actually do all day? Well, at this point the aim is effectively action research. In essence: we are trying to imagine into existence a hyper-local, bespoke program of Creative (in its broadest sense) activity. This might support surgery staff to act on their urge to take the less obvious path with people, to work with people whose issues lead beyond the prescription pad. I am looking for ways that people in the community might think differently about health and wellbeing, and the place that Creativity might have in their lives. I am looking for links that I can draw together, links between different people and communities, links between practices and individuals: links a busy practice nurse or pharmacist might not have time to spot. Links that might help them do and feel even better in their work.  I am looking for people who are missing from the picture, people that might feel lonely, isolated, lost, a bit on the margin of things. I am looking for people who are already amazing, or who could start to be amazing in new ways. I am using Creativity to look for Creativity

Some examples:

I am walking through town, taking photos of every notice board in Wirksworth, trying to work out what is on offer here for the community already. There are a lot of boards, there’s a lot that’s going on. I’m heading home, googling every single poster, reaching out to make links with people that are running sessions. My head is spinning, there’s so much on offer, what’s missing? What do we need? How is this town taking care of itself already? In a town with a reputation for Community and Creativity, who is getting left behind?

I am crouching beside a pile of sticks with a flint. I’m trying to make sparks to light a fire so this Wild Roots Wildlife and Wellbeing group can make some hot drinks. It’s misty and damp. I’m striking away without much success. One of the men in the group is gently chatting to a new member about how to cope with life after bereavement. It’s a quiet, beautiful moment of mutual support. It’s quite moving. I don’t think it would have happened in the queue at the supermarket. Am I ever going to get this bloody fire going? Sally, the coordinator, reaches in her bag and hands me some firelighters. 

I am sitting in an office with the lead doctor at Hannage Brook, Penny Blackwell. We are talking about Creative Health and her vision for the surgery. It’s inspiring, she really wants this. She’s simultaneously co-ordinating some chaos – several staff members are off and patients are waiting, she’s dealing with a family member’s broken ankle by text, she’s fielding calls about unexpected problems in reception. It is just shy of mayhem. She is utterly unphased. She hands me a set of concise notes she has kept about our chat. We’re going to have to be pretty relentless to keep up with this one…

I am in the soup kitchen in the Maltings church hall, meeting a friendly retired couple who are telling me about their life in Wirksworth. The soup is great. There’s a buzz: the vicar is in. He’s holding court like I’ve seen a few rock stars doing at their merch stall. There’s a small group of young mums sitting together in the corner with their kids. I wonder how they are getting on out there.

I am talking to Helen, the pharmacist at the surgery. As you might not expect: she hates prescribing medications. She wants to find ways to help some people stop feeling like ‘a person who needs medication’, to support people to feel like ‘maybe something Creative is for me’. She remembers her own experience of nervously joining a walking group, then loving it. She really wants this Creative in Place stuff to work.

I am talking to Linda, the reception manager. She works from the heart. From her desk, she can see people queueing at reception. If someone is upset, she will call them to wait with her in her office, and she’ll talk things through with them. I wonder how she copes with it, and if she ever lies awake at night worrying about someone she has met during the day. 

I am walking through Sherwood Forest with my mate Adam. He’s talking about how he designed the 30 Days Wild campaign when he was working at the Wildlife Trust. I get one of those little brain tingles I have when a good idea is trying to take shape. Could I (Creatively of course) steal that idea? 30 Days Creative? We could hang a lot on that peg. Adam agrees. Hmm. 

I am trying to stop my puppy from barking at everyone in the Stone Centre cafe. I am trying to listen to Cathy Cooke telling me about the community bid for the Eco Centre. If they win, it could be an incredible place for people to come together. Cathy agrees. Excellent. I drop another biscuit under the table.

I am sitting in an artist’s kitchen listening to her tales about the unfair treatment of artists delivering community arts programs designed with well-meaning intentions. It’s true, you often end up being asked to do a lot for not very much when you are Creative. 

I am in a meeting of the Community Health Co-Ordinators, hearing hair-raising accounts of isolated elderly couples just managing to live at home, often right on the very margins of safety. ‘Will you be able to visit people at home?’ the team ask me – so many people are stuck there. I make a note. I also wonder. So many questions.

I am making lunch for Ray Cooper from Wirksworth Housing Co-Operative. They’re telling me how amazing they felt after taking part in a queer community songwriting session in Sheffield. This sense of support, understanding and shared community, how uplifting it was. I want more people to feel like that in Wirksworth.

These are snapshots from an ongoing process. I am out there in optimism, excited about what we may get to deliver here. I am so grateful to the many, many people who have helped me carry out this research. As we move into planning the next steps, I will do my best to get that fire going, to deliver something we can all be proud to be part of. Watch this Place…