Well-City Salisbury returns for three more years

Pioneering mental health and wellbeing project secures renewed support from National Lottery Community Fund

Well-City Salisbury, the wellbeing project helping people with low to medium mental health needs through arts and heritage courses has received £368,135 of funding from National Lottery Community Fund.

Following its first three successful years of delivery, Well-City Salisbury will return in Spring 2025 to build on its work with Salisbury residents thanks to the funding. Bringing together the experience and skills of four Salisbury-based partner organisations; ArtCare, Wessex Archaeology, Wiltshire Creative and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, the project will help people from many different backgrounds access creative sessions delivered by professional artists and practitioners over a three year period, with additional resources developed specifically to reach a much larger online audience.

Well-City Salisbury primarily uses a social prescribing model where participants are referred onto a course by their GP practice, support organisation, community group or school wellbeing team and also welcomes self-referrals. The project is about creating connection – to the arts, the landscape, heritage, community and each other – and provides 10-week long free creative courses for adults and young adults.

In its first three years, Well-City Salisbury delivered 29 creative courses for 191 participants, working with 19 local artists and 18 referral organisations, as well as 53 community events and training 54 individuals in mental health awareness. In addition, 85% of participants achieved their own identified goals for attending the courses, 99% are likely or very likely to attend another Well-City Salisbury course and 96% are likely or very likely to engage with arts, culture & heritage in the future.

Key aims for the second round of Well-City Salisbury include; to make a positive change to the mental health of everyone involved in the project, for participants to feel like they belong to the Well-City Salisbury community, and to work with new guest delivery partners to expand the offer, widening participation and to reach a more diverse audience.

Leigh Chalmers, who leads the Well-City Salisbury project said:

We’re delighted that Well-City Salisbury can continue for another three years thanks to the support of the National Lottery Community Fund. This means we can build upon our successes from the first three years and present participants with more opportunities to engage with the project. We can’t wait to welcome people back and to reach out to new people who might be interested in getting involved.

Dr Stuart Eve, Chief Executive of Wessex Archaeology, said: “Well-City Salisbury is one of those once-in-a-lifetime projects that is born out of a need to effect real change in the lives of our communities. As archaeologists we spend our lives uncovering the past and finding ways to use it to help build a better world. The initial project has clearly shown that engagement with heritage can not only enrich people’s lives, but also create new relationships, skills and opportunities for the Salisbury community and beyond. As a major employer in Salisbury, it is an absolute privilege to be able to continue the Well-City Salisbury project and to use our specialist knowledge, collections and enthusiasm to continue helping and caring for the people of Salisbury.”

ArtCare Project Officer, Lesley Self said: “Thanks to the continued support of the National Lottery we are able to develop our offer to support people at Salisbury District Hospital and in the community with their mental health and wellbeing”.

Rosa Corbishley, Executive Director of Wiltshire Creative, said: “I am delighted that the exceptional project Well-City has secured further funding to deliver another three years of impactful programme. Supporting the mental wellbeing and creativity of our communities is at the heart of Wiltshire Creative’s mission. We look forward to working with our partners across the city to ensure more people can live happy and healthier lives and create the space to explore their own history and stories”.

Damian Haasjes, Director of Education and Wellbeing, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, added: “Wiltshire Wildlife Trust are proud to be a partner with Well-City Salisbury as we know first-hand what a positive impact Well-City programmes have on improving people’s mental health and wellbeing. This partnership is a natural extension of the wellbeing work undertaken by the Trust and we are looking forward to supporting Well-City and the people of Salisbury”.

For more information on Well-City Salisbury and how to participate or support the project, please visit Home – Well-City Salisbury