Wellbeing In Action

What do we mean by mental and community wellbeing?

Mental wellbeing is about how we think, feel and act. We can say we have good mental wellbeing when we are feeling good and functioning well. [Learn more]

Community wellbeing is about how connected people feel to the people and places around them. It is about the networks that exist across communities; in local neighbourhoods, online communities, or those built around shared interests or experiences. How much people are able to enjoy the social world around them, the quality of relationships and supportive social networks are important. Our physical environments and opportunities to engage with activities can influence whether communities are able to collectively thrive. [Learn more]

Why is mental and social wellbeing important?

Looking after our wellbeing is just as important as looking after our physical health. Improving our mental wellbeing can reduce the risk of developing common mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. People with good mental wellbeing enjoy better physical health, including a healthier heart, digestive system and immune system.

Community wellbeing is about what people do together and how they treat each other. Being part of a collective life and having opportunities to connect with others influences how we feel about places and spaces, builds trust, a sense of togetherness and belonging. These things are foundational to mental wellbeing and can mitigate against the impact of wider socio-economic determinants within communities. Building connection to others and the world around us underpins pro-environmental action, as we adapt to changing climate.

Individual and collective wellbeing is not the same for everyone.

We are all shaped by our experiences and the interaction of many overlapping factors for example; age, gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, ability/disability. These interactions happen in a context of societal systems and structures, for example; law, government policies, institutions, media. (Hankivsky, 2014)

Social identity, position in society, and experiencing discrimination and stigma impact on our mental wellbeing. This often means deeper and wider inequity for people with multiple protected characteristics or marginalised identities. (Moreno-Agnostino, 2024)

Picture of group enjoying each other's company

A recent survey found individual mental wellbeing to be lower amongst:

Younger age groups

Females

Ethnicities other than White

Those reporting a disability

Those reporting being in bad health

Social and community wellbeing was lower amongst:

Those reporting a disability

Those reporting being in bad health

Younger age groups

Those with access to fewer resources and opportunities

(Isherwood & Hallingberg, 2024) [Learn more]

What works in creating inclusive wellbeing promoting community activities?

Actions For Facilitators

Ask about and take time to understand a person’s motivation for taking part in the activity. Acknowledging people’s reasons and resources can help maintain engagement and support positive change.
Incorporate opportunities for social interaction. Even small interactions can really matter. Things like having refreshments available in a communal space can make a difference.
Create the conditions where those taking part in activities can build relationships with other participants and/or activity leaders. This may involve stimulating conversation, encouraging taking and listening.
Personal goal setting, no matter how small, is important. Help people to set realistic expectations about what they want to get out of taking part. Find ways to recognise and celebrate steps towards change.

Arts4Wellbeing: At Arts4Wellbeing Creative Cafes we use gentle and thoughtful facilitation to create a very special atmosphere. From the very first step, entering through the door, we welcome people – offering a seat, drinks, food and an opportunity to participate in group conversation. We as facilitators use a range of general conversational topics which enable people to speak about what is important to them, encouraging connecting to others. Over time participants grow in confidence, feel increasingly relaxed and take ownership of the group, comfortable to be their whole selves. We work with people so that they co-construct strong networks of personal connections. This creates trusting and positive group dynamics. For those taking part in the Cafes, the benefits ripple out making their whole week feel better. “For the next few hours you go somewhere else, and you’ve completely forgotten the outside world, and that sets you up for the next six or seven days”

Arts4Wellbeing

In this video, hear directly from members of the community who regularly attend Arts4Wellbeing’s Creative Cafes. They share their personal stories and speak about the meaningful impact these sessions have had on their lives, wellbeing, and sense of connection. Discover how creativity, conversation, and community come together to support mental and emotional health in an inclusive and welcoming space.

Find out more

Being able to express ourselves and feel validated within community activities helps improve wellbeing. Encourage self-expression. Invite people to be their authentic selves. Celebrating how people express themselves and find ways to bring creativity into the activity. Foster validation by acknowledging and accepting the experiences of others, without judgement.
Develop the skills and confidence of activity facilitators. They have a unique role in sensitively creating conditions for inclusion. Consider training in managing group dynamics, facilitating communication and group dialogue, and bringing coaching skills to conversations.
Use reliable, validated, standardised wellbeing outcome measures to demonstrate the impact of community activity on individual and community wellbeing. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales enable measurement of wellbeing for monitoring and evaluation of all kinds of projects and programmes with participants from 13 years of age. The scales focus on the positive, are easy to use, and can measure the effects of your work.

Actions for designing and promoting inclusive activities:

How people find out about the activity is important. The steps between becoming aware of the activity to joining in really make a difference to what people get out of taking part. Think about appropriate advertising in communities, and developing behaviourally informed communications. Make sure that the routes of access to the activity reflect the purpose and are easy to navigate.
Be clear about the purpose of the activity, and the roles involved in delivering it.
Engage participants in shaping the activity, especially in terms of format, dose and design. Seek to continually improve through listening and learning from participant feedback and experiences.

Incorporate opportunities for people to come together in groups. Skilled group leaders can encourage group cohesion and create the conditions where participants can feel a sense a belonging to the group. This fosters social interaction, that helps people to build networks and relationships.
A diverse mix of people maximises benefits to collective mental and social wellbeing, especially when people find a common interest, goal or other characteristic. Consider ways to bring diversity into your group, and tailor activities to encourage participants to find commonality with others.
Value the commitment of staff and volunteers involved in running the community activity. Offer learning and development opportunities, and celebrate their contributions and impact.

Roots To Recovery: Roots to Recovery is a people-led initiative that taps into the healing power of the outdoors. We offer something for everyone, creating inclusive and accessible activities that help people to grow and thrive. Nobody is ever left out, people can opt in for what they want to do, they can suggest activities and experiences, and we make sure that everyone can get involved. Several group members have grown so much in confidence that we’ve helped them to become volunteer mentors or staff themselves. We value that they are now supporting others to rebuild their lives, reconnect socially, and discover a new sense of purpose.

Roots To Recovery

In this video, participants share their personal journeys with Roots to Recovery, describing how the programme has helped them rebuild their lives and discover a new sense of purpose. From exploring Pembrokeshire’s stunning coastlines to engaging in inclusive and accessible activities, the project offers something for everyone, empowering individuals to grow and thrive.

Find Out More

Actions when choosing and using community spaces:

Community spaces, where meeting and interaction can happen, are vitally important to enabling wellbeing promoting community activity. Make use of, invest in, and protect community spaces.
How people feel about community places and spaces is important. Benefits are maximised when there are positive feelings of safety, trust and ownership. When selecting community spaces to host activities think about how all participants feel when in these places.

Aloud Charity: ‘At Aloud, we consider all aspects of a space from people getting there to leaving it, and getting home. It’s important to us that people feel safe around our activities and welcomed in them. This doesn’t mean there has to be a receptionist (as sometimes asking for directions can be outside people’s comfort zone) but clear signage and a walk-through reel on socials can be really helpful to empower our participants to feel confident enough to attend. The locations we use are accessible by public transport and are places young people feel comfortable in – we use regular surveys to help better understand what adjustments we can make to activities to support participation. And we have excellent music facilitators and community volunteers that support our participants musically and pastorally within each session.’

Aloud Charity

Find out more about how we can create safe spaces. Aloud are proud to offer supportive, welcoming environments where young people can express themselves, build confidence, and be heard. Such spaces help participants to grow creatively and emotionally.

Find out more

Be visible in community spaces. Using prominent places within communities for wellbeing promoting activities can help to increase feelings of belonging, and trust.
Support mobility within local geographies, to enable physical access to community places and spaces. Help people identify public transport options, encourage car sharing and other community transport initiatives, as well as safe walking and cycling routes.

Allow for adaptation and flexibility within community spaces so that all participants needs can be addressed.

The diversity of neighbourhoods is a strength in enabling wellbeing benefits. Use spaces and places that reflect the variety of environments, cultures and people within your community.

Actions for incorporating nature into activities:

Outdoor groups where people can connect with nature, often draw in many wellbeing promoting elements into a single activity. This means there is potential to realise multiple benefits for mental and community wellbeing through nature-based activities.

Experiencing nature, which is more than just a being natural environments, is important. When people come together regularly to connect with nature in communities it increases a sense of meaning and purpose for people. Social support and physical activity are improved. Also, these activities create unique opportunities for personal development, to help others and to contribute positively to society.

The Nature Connection Handbook highlights practical ways that you can encourage and increase people’s connection with nature.
Consider if all or part of your activity can be delivered outdoors, or whether there are ways to bring nature indoors.
Moments spent appreciating nature can be calming and spark feelings of awe and wonder, which are good for our wellbeing. Explore ways to encourage people to take notice of nature and incorporate moments with nature into your activity.

Actions for empowerment:

Sometimes people can feel that a community activity is not for them. They may feel stigma or shame about taking part, or about their mental health, wellbeing, or life circumstances. Be pro-active in reducing stigma around participation in community activity. Consider how you can contribute to normalising such activity. Think about what is needed in your local context to best support people to join in for the first time.
There are many ways that organisations can support one another to maximise the benefits for communities. Develop partnerships and collaboration with a diverse mix of organisations. Recognise aligned priorities and values, and develop shared understanding.

Recognise, re-distribute and enable the sharing of power within communities. Encourage those working with communities to openly acknowledge their power and the power in relationships between community members. Create conditions that enable communities to take collective decision and action, develop positive relationships with other communities and external agencies, and increase collective identity.
Foster a culture of participation and joint-decision making. Utilise the Co-production Knowledge Base for resources and support to work together with people in equal, reciprocal and caring relationships. Taking an asset-based approach can enable the sharing of power and change making.
Investment in community development is essential, and many public bodies – including Local Authorities and Health Boards – have a role to play. Develop the capability and opportunity of community group leaders to engage with those in leadership roles at local, regional and national levels to support the case for investment.

Reflection Prompts

Which of these actions could you incorporate?
What do you think is needed to strengthen inclusive, wellbeing promoting community activity?
What is in the scope of your influence? What’s in the influence of others?
How confident are you in recognising changes that may help your practice and in taking steps to try something different?
How will you know if changes you make have a positive impact?

How did we create this resource

Wellbeing in Action: Inclusive Community Practice aims to provide practical guidance and inspiration for those providing community activity that supports mental and social wellbeing.

We searched for evidence in academic research papers and other trusted sources, to explore what works in creating inclusive wellbeing promoting community activities.

To be included in the review, evidence needed to explicitly investigate aspects of community activity that may influence success in improving wellbeing outcomes.

We analysed the findings from 19 sources to identify key information that has been summarised into the actions presented in this resource.

Evidence published up to December 2024 was included in the review.