The Local Wellbeing Project was completed in early 2010 but several strands (the three big initatives outlined below and our work on how to measure resilience and wellbeing) are still live and being pursued by the Young Foundation and its former project partners.

To read more about each aspect of the project, please click on the links below.

Big Initiatives

Promoting emotional resilience among 11 to 13 year olds

This is based on the Penn Resilience Programme developed by the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. This is the first widespread pilot of this schools based resilience programme in the UK and the largest trial in the world to date. It aims to teach children the skills to deal more constructively with negative emotion and difficult circumstances.

Promoting emotional resilience among older people

This service is based on Living Life to the Full, a programme developed by psychiatrist Dr. Chris Williams. This pilot is unique in its focus on the psychological wellbeing of older people and it is the first programme to use the principles and practices of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in a community setting, where both local service users and providers will benefit.

Young People’s progress through 16-19 year old transition –  apprenticeship pathfinders

The overall aim of the Pathfinder Project is to map and collate an empirical evidence base of the processes and relationships that will be required by local authorities, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), and others, including schools, Connexions, careers services and employers in implementing and achieving the government's aspirations for Apprenticeships.

Action Research and Learning

Neighbourhood and Community Empowerment

Empowerment in this context is about communities mobilising and working together to involve themselves in civil society. The aim of this strand was to use existing evidence and new case studies to assess how empowerment impacts on wellbeing.

Parenting Support

There is an increasing policy focus on the need to ensure that parents can provide adequate practical and emotional support for their children. Policy has tended to monitor the impact of parenting programmes on child outcomes but, with a focus on wellbeing, this strand went a step further to look at how parenting support specifically contributes to the wellbeing of both parents and children.

Underpinning Themes

Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability refers to the growing concern that policy does not impact negatively on our environment. This was identified as an underpinning theme because sustainability and wellbeing both point to the idea that policy should go beyond aiming for economic growth. This project aimed to explore how the sustainability and wellbeing agendas could be mutally reinforcing.

Measurement

This strand is concerned with finding robust ways to measure wellbeing and resilience at the local level. Indications of levels of wellbeing would enable authorities both to allocate resources to those who need them most and to better understand the impact of their policies on people’s wellbeing.

Click here to read more about the policy impact of this project

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