(Image: Supplied)
A library loan scheme designed to help people manage seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is expanding across the UK following a successful two-year pilot in Scotland.
Wintering Well Boxes, which aim to support wellbeing during the darker winter months, will be available through 16 library services across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland this winter, with 600 boxes being shared between participating services.
Professor Hester Parr and Professor Hayden Lorimer. (Image: Supplied)
The scheme began in East Dunbartonshire in 2024 and has since expanded to Glasgow and the Orkney Islands, recording more than 1,000 loans to date.
In Scotland, Edinburgh Library Service is offering the boxes for the first time at three community libraries in Wester Hailes, Morningside and Muirhouse. East Renfrewshire has also joined the scheme, while Glasgow has increased its stock to 185 boxes following strong demand.
SAD is a form of depression associated with seasonal changes and reduced exposure to natural light during the winter months. It is estimated to affect more than one million people in the UK.
Therapeutic light lamp. (Image: Supplied)
The Wintering Well Boxes were developed through the Living with SAD research project, led by Professor Hester Parr of the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Edinburgh.
The project received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and involved consultation with people who experience SAD.
Each box contains a therapeutic light lamp, a guidebook with suggested activities and access to a free online course designed to encourage healthier habits and support mental wellbeing.
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Professor Hester Parr, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, said: “Seasonal affective disorder can be debilitating for many people, who dread the annual effects of the shorter days and struggle to stay physically and mentally healthy through winter.
“When we began work on the Living with SAD research project which led to the development of the Wintering Well Box, we wanted to explore whether SAD was an annual inevitability or whether change was possible.
“With two years of real-world use and feedback from users now available, we can see that people can be helped to make changes that improve their winter wellbeing through the active, creative measures we’ve developed with input from people who live with SAD.”
Case study Claire Charlwood. (Image: Supplied)
Brenda Gardner, library service team leader at East Dunbartonshire Council, said: “When Wintering Well was first introduced, it gave us a simple but powerful framework for supporting our communities through the darker months of the year.
“The principles of connection, kindness, creativity and wellbeing inspired library teams to think differently about how we could support people experiencing loneliness, isolation and the challenges that winter can bring.
“Rather than being viewed as a standalone programme, Wintering Well is now woven into the way we plan our services and engage with our communities.”
Professor Hayden Lorimer, co-lead on the project at the University of Edinburgh, said: “We’re thrilled that library services in all four nations have given their support to the Wintering Well project, which is a direct result of the impact we’ve been able to make with the help of Scottish public libraries over the last couple of years.
“This winter may be more challenging for many as we face additional uncertainty about how the country will be affected by what is forecast to be the strongest El Niño for a thousand years.
“Our Wintering Well boxes aim to help people deal with those negative emotions through creative exercises, as well as offering free access to an online course to help them develop more healthy habits and improve their mental wellbeing.”