Expanding Access to Creative Arts Therapies Spaces
How FreshSight translated community insights into a sustainable growth model
By Anna Parrish (Consultant)
Edited by Jessica Slater (Strategy & Insights Manager) & Gethin Poacher (Director)
“FreshSight introduced perspectives I hadn’t considered, with students bringing a refreshing zest to their work. The partnership ensured I never felt alone, offering support so that, in one way or another, my hand was always held.”
Mariana, CATS Founder
Empowering Individuals Through Creative Therapy and Accessible Support.
Creative arts therapies, encompassing music, drama, and art, provide valuable mental health support, encouraging emotional processing and healing through creative exercises. The incorporation of creative therapies for individuals with mental health conditions is accredited by public healthcare bodies (NICE, 2014), highlighting their utility in boosting self-esteem, fostering communication, and improving overall well-being (British Association of Art Therapists, 2025). Integrating these therapies within mental health frameworks can help individuals by offering alternative, effective treatment options outwith conventional medical approaches.
Creative Arts Therapies Space (CATS) is a prime example of an organisation working to make therapy more accessible and affordable for everyone. By offering room rentals to newly qualified therapists and encouraging low-cost and free group therapy, CATS aims to mitigate pressure on the NHS and third-sector services, while empowering individuals to explore support through creative expression.
CATS partnered with FreshSight for a nine-week consultancy project for support in three key areas: understanding community demand, enhancing marketing efforts, and identifying sustainable funding opportunities.
Our Approach.
FreshSight’s outreach team collaborated with the leadership at CATS to ascertain their aspirations for the project, recognising three key focus areas:
Community Surveying: assess the demand for creative arts therapy in Edinburgh.
Sustainable Marketing Strategy: develop cost-free, educational campaigns to share the mission of creative arts therapy
Diversification of Funding: identify wider sources of funding to facilitate free group therapy.A team of five student consultants then developed and delivered practical tools and recommendations to support Companions’ work across these three areas.
“The continuity and great communication were invaluable. As a neurodivergent person, having regular check-ins was reassuring. The team was enthusiastic about the project, and working with them felt like collaborating with peers. They offered honest feedback, like suggesting website improvements, which significantly increased our visibility.”
Mariana, CATS Founder
FreshSight designed and delivered a 13-question community survey to assess awareness, demand, and barriers to accessing creative arts therapies in Edinburgh. The survey’s 60 responses revealed moderate overall familiarity but significantly lower awareness among parents and the general public, in comparison to students. Respondents identified affordability, accessibility, and scientific credibility as key decision factors, while emotional expression and stress relief were the most mentioned benefits. To strengthen future research, FreshSight recommended transitioning to Qualtrics for comprehensive qualitative data and provided outreach tools to connect with communities aligned with CATS’s social mission such as youth shelters and courts.
To address awareness gaps, the consultants created an education-focused marketing strategy. This included a structured freely accessible blog for the educational campaign, a professionally designed educational flyer with a QR code linking directly to referrals, and a step-by-step social media marketing guide tailored to CATS’s platforms. The strategy prioritised fostering audience trust, accessibility, and stigma reduction, positioning CATS as a credible, storytelling, community-rooted organisation, rather than focusing solely on service promotion.
Finally, FreshSight strengthened CATS’s financial sustainability by identifying alternative income streams. Recommendations included implementing a “Donate Now” button and Paypal account, hosting creative fundraising workshops such as jewellery and tote bag making, leveraging third-sector discounts, pursuing NHS and grant funding, and building university partnerships. Each recommendation was accompanied by practical tools, templates, and tracking systems, enabling immediate implementation, easy usability, and long-term scalability.
What We Delivered.
Our Impact.
Through surveying community awareness, enhancing marketing strategy, and seeking wider fundraising opportunities, FreshSight provided CATS with insight into community perceptions and a clear roadmap for growth.
The survey provided foundational evidence to inform targeted awareness campaigns and outreach to vulnerable groups. Beyond the survey, the new marketing strategy transformed CATS’s ambitions into a structured, low-cost content plan, rooted in education and inclusivity. Meanwhile, alternative funding sources recommendations helped to introduce scalable, community-based fundraising models.
Together, these deliverables positioned CATS to grow with confidence and sustainability, strengthening its ability to provide affordable, accessible, creative therapeutic spaces.
“Thanks to FreshSight, we’ve seen organic success in our marketing and partnerships. We were approached by two established organisations, our name is gaining recognition, and referrals are improving. I would love to continue this relationship in the future.”
Mariana, CATS Founder
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Creative Arts Therapy Space for giving us permission to write this report. Thank you to the FreshSight team for their work on this report and the Creative Arts Therapy Space project.
References
British Association of Art Therapists (2025). What is art therapy? [online] The British Association Of Art Therapists. Available at: https://baat.org/art-therapy/what-is-art-therapy/ (Accessed: 22 April 2026)
NICE (2014). Psychological Therapy | Information for the Public | Psychosis and Schizophrenia in adults: Prevention and Management | Guidance | NICE. [online] www.nice.org.uk. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg178/ifp/chapter/psychological-therapy (Accessed: 22 April 2026)