Julie Ward

Julie has been working in the arts all her life, initially as a writer and theatre practitioner primarily working in participatory practice with young people and marginalised communities (eg at Contact Theatre in Manchester), but also as a producer and festival director. She ran a regional disability arts
organisation before founding a rural artists co-operative which continues to be sustainable 35 years later, where she devised innovative indoor and outdoor programmes across a wide variety of art forms, including social prescribing ‘arts for well-being’ models and projects connecting communities globally via cultural exchange.Julie was elected as MEP for NW England in 2014 and re-elected again in 2019, serving until the UK left the EU. Throughout her mandate Julie was a member of the Culture and Education (CULT) Committee, building strong relationships with civil society and the creative and cultural industries.