Tickets for Good and the University of Sheffield present early results from new postdoctoral research into live events and workplace wellbeing on Thursday 8 October
Researchers at the University of Sheffield will share preliminary findings from new postdoctoral research on live music, cultural events and the wellbeing of NHS staff. They will present the work at a free public event in Sheffield on Thursday 8 October.
The research is part of a collaboration between the University and Tickets for Good, a company founded in Sheffield. Tickets for Good gives free and discounted event tickets to people working in health, education, charities and social care. University researchers were asked to investigate what difference that access makes to the people who use it, and where its limits lie.
Dr Emma Risley will present early results from her study of NHS workers at Live Music and Workplace Wellbeing. The event takes place at the University’s Sir Frederick Mappin Building from 1.30pm. These early results from a survey of more than 1,100 healthcare staff who use Tickets for Good show that the majority of participants see value in access to live events, citing stress relief, morale, team connection and feeling recognised. The next stage of research will test whether that perceived value translates into measurable wellbeing outcomes. The event will also set out emerging recommendations for employers, the live events industry and researchers, and invite the public to discuss what should happen next.
The research comes amid widespread concern about work and wellbeing. The CIPD’s Good Work Index 2025, a national survey of around 5,000 UK workers, found that a quarter (an estimated 8.5 million people) feel their job has a negative impact on their mental health. The CIPD identified excessive workloads, excessive pressure, poor relationships with colleagues and the quality of line management as the factors most strongly associated with unhealthy work.
The Sheffield researchers are clear that access to live events is not an answer to those pressures, nor a substitute for workplace mental-health support or clinical care. Their question is narrower: whether, and how, spending time at live events can form part of a wider picture of recovery and wellbeing for people in demanding jobs.
Dr Risley’s research builds on an earlier, smaller-scale University of Sheffield study by Sun Yixuan (Shealy), which surveyed NHS employees who had used Tickets for Good. Participants valued being able to switch off from work, reconnect with family and friends, and regain a sense of identity outside their job. Because that study surveyed existing users of the platform, it could not show what was causing these benefits.
The new research is exploring what drives the effects people report. It may be the music and the shared experience of a live event. It may also be the recognition that comes with being offered a ticket because of the work someone does.
The event forms the next stage of MUSIC + WELLBEING, an initiative Tickets for Good launched during the Fringe at Tramlines in July. The launch brought together researchers, music industry figures, health organisations and community partners to explore what live music does for our wellbeing, and how that can be better understood.
Dr Emma Risley, a researcher at the University of Sheffield Centre of Excellence, Muses Mind Machine, said:
“NHS staff often describe a night at a gig as one of the few times they properly switch off. Our job as researchers is to understand what is actually happening in those moments, who benefits and what the limits are. These are preliminary findings, and we want to discuss them in public, with the people they are about.”
Steve Rimmer, CEO and Founder of Tickets for Good, said:
“Every day we see people using Tickets for Good to get out, spend time with somebody they care about and experience something beyond work and everyday pressures.
“This research gives us an opportunity to start putting evidence around that experience. If live music can help people switch off, reconnect and feel valued, there is an important conversation to be had with employers, healthcare, policymakers and the live events industry about how access to culture fits into a much bigger wellbeing picture.”
Event details
LIVE MUSIC AND WORKPLACE WELLBEING: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Thursday 8 October 2026, from 1.30pm
Sir Frederick Mappin Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield
Free and open to the public
Register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-music-and-workplace-wellbeing-tickets-2001044788830
