Case studies

The Edge Café in Cambridge provides support to people recovering from substance misuse and those with mental health problems by running recovery groups and providing opportunities for volunteering.

An element of drug and alcohol recovery support has been run from a community library since 2019 in Newcastle.

Both Babergh and West Suffolk Councils have a strategic partnership with Abbeycroft Leisure to run outdoor activities and cooking sessions in local parks and green spaces during the pandemic.  

A sexual health clinic has been set up Leicester’s main shopping centre. It was chosen because it was convenient, but also through a desire to destigmatise sexual health.

The Dundas Shopping Centre in the heart of Middlesbrough town centre is the Live Well Centre, a one-stop shop for healthy living run by the council’s public health team.

A network of healthy hubs has been set up across Hertfordshire on high streets, in leisure centres, at food banks and in community halls to take health and wellbeing services out to the public.

Brighton & Hove launched a voluntary healthy choice scheme 14 years ago for cafes, restaurants and takeaways and is now making it mandatory for its commissioned catering services to follow good practice.

A health and wellbeing shop has been operating from a popular shopping mall in Kent, thanks to a partnership between the community NHS trust, county council and a borough council. 

The council has organised informal workshops to train staff to respond to “difficult conversations” and signpost to local health and wellbeing services that are available to all who live and work in Shropshire.

Libraries in Suffolk provide a comprehensive range of mental health and wellbeing help situated in the hearts of towns and villages across the county.