Designing the Environment for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Healthy Happy Places acts as a bridge between sectors and the community, to come together to turn unloved spaces into healthier, happier places.
The aim was to use the designed environment to create positive mental health and wellbeing in areas of inequalities in the region. Healthy Happy Places uses a set of ingredients and a creative approach to develop places that are more joyful, calming, and nurturing places to be.
 | “I went from being unsure about whether to participate to feeling I and others present had a valuable contribution and our voices were heard.” |
Projects supported as part of our Healthy Happy Places portfolio, include:
Places of Sanctuary, Wallsend and North Shields
The team worked with the Council public health and regeneration teams as masterplans were being developed and implemented for both towns. The purpose was to evidence how a health and wellbeing overlay could be applied to the masterplans. A creative brief was developed to explore ‘how can our towns create and nurture positive mental health and wellbeing for all?’
In Wallsend, Mustard Stories Arts CIC used creative writing techniques with participants from Anxious Minds to create an animated video and zine which was fedback to the Council and was included in the Cabinet Report as part of the future development of the area.
In North Shields, using the same brief, artists Sally Southern and Nicola Lynch worked with participants in Changing Lives and Cedarwood Trust and used the insights to create a temporary installation in the shopping centre to demonstrate the future possibilities for the space in the town.
“I went from being unsure about whether to participate to feeling I and others present had a valuable contribution and our voices were heard.”
Participant, Wallsend
Garden At The Hub, North Shields
A community garden space achieved through a collective of nine partners to activate an underutilised green space outside a Primary Care Network Hub. The area is now a beautiful growing and social space which is maintained by ‘Garden At The Hub’ Community Association, a regular group of volunteers.
“It’s got a nice feeling to it, like you know it’s a safe space. I can’t thank you enough for making me feel welcome…you are all lovely people and I feel blessed I have found and joined in. It was a breath of fresh air.”
Darius, citizen and garden volunteer
Heart and Hopes of Horden
Operating at a village scale, this was a creative exploration of citizens experience of their place,conducted in the context of redevelopment plans presented by the Council.
Using mapping exercises (both digital and face to face), prompts invited people to consider where their places of kindness were, what places made their heart sing, as well as places that needed hope and care. Extensive collaborative working and the Healthy Happy Places ingredients and insights gained from the mapping work resulted in a report which shared possibilities for the future spaces of Horden.
“Ultimately the report has illustrated that residents do have a voice and if the suggestions are taken on board, it will inspire progress in the years to come and hopefully help us realise we can have more control of what happens to the village and thus greater authority over our own futures.”
Paula, Resident