Category

• Promising Local Practice

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Poverty impact

• Prevention
• Mitigation
• Awareness

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Poverty driver

• Provide benefit in-kind (material)
• Provide benefit in-kind (experience)
• Increase income from benefits

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Keywords

• Collaboration and Team Work
• Support
• Community Engagement
• Mental Health
• Social Inclusion

Aim

The project aims to:
• Address root causes of inequality rather than just the symptoms.
• Empower local communities to create and lead solutions.
• Support innovative and upstream approaches to tackling inequality.
• Encourage development, testing, and scaling of effective community-led activities.
• Foster long-term, systemic change by promoting social justice.
• Generate learning and evidence on what works to inform future practice and policy.
• Support individuals and communities to improve and maintain their mental health and resilience.
• Provide and promote mental health and wellbeing services for people aged 11 and over, regardless of formal diagnosis.
• Operate in a non-stigmatising, inclusive way that fosters long-term recovery and social connection.
• Inform and influence local, regional, and national policy and practice related to mental health and wellbeing.

Summary

Networks of Wellbeing (NoW) is a Huntly-based charity focused on improving mental health and community wellbeing. Rooted in the Five Ways to Wellbeing, it offers free counselling, peer support, mindfulness, gardening, walking groups, veterans’ breakfasts, and more—both in person and online. NoW works with local GPs, schools, care homes, and organisations to reduce isolation and build resilience. It also supports broader wellbeing through initiatives like the Share Shed tool library and Hope in Action events. NoW promotes a people- and planet-centred approach, aiming to embed wellbeing into everyday community life.

What difference does it make?

Networks of Wellbeing believe the project has made a meaningful and lasting difference by creating safe spaces for empowerment, recovery, and social connection, particularly for people facing complex challenges such as mental health struggles, poverty, and isolation in rural Aberdeenshire.
A key outcome has been the genuine partnership with Gordon Rural Action, made possible by both the funding and relational support provided through Foundation Scotland’s Tackling Inequalities Fund. This fund didn’t just provide money, it facilitated collaboration between the two organisations, enabling joint outreach into under-served rural communities. As a result, residents can now access a broader range of support in one place, including services for veterans and those in the farming community.
The project has led to tangible personal transformations. One woman who rarely left her home except for essential trips began attending a group, accessed counselling, and now holds a full-time job. Another man, referred just before Christmas 2024 after experiencing emotional and psychological domestic abuse, was quickly supported by the NoW team and housing services, resulting in safe accommodation within days. He now attends sessions for social connection rather than crisis support, what staff describe as a “Christmas miracle.”
Beyond individual stories, the project has offered something more enduring: hope. Hope that someone cares, that support exists, and that progress is possible. That hope is reflected not just in the services offered, but in the fact that a funder trusted the organisation and its community enough to invest in it.

Key take-aways

• A person-centred, flexible approach builds trust and encourages return engagement.
• Staff with lived experience create a non-judgemental space that removes barriers to access.
• Outreach in rural areas must be slow, and consistent relationships take time to build.
• Partnerships thrive when built on shared values and an understanding of limited capacity.
• Data alone can’t capture success—stories and relationships tell the real impact.

 

Organisations

Networks of Wellbeing

Location

Huntly, Aberdeenshire

Contact