New Surrey project looks to gain inspiration from the past to inspire better wellbeing for the future
The 'What Keeps Us Well' project is a year long partnership between Surrey County Council and multiple community groups funded by the National lottery
Nearly £100,000 of funding has been given to a new Surrey County Council project that'll look at Surrey's past for inspiration for better wellbeing.
The National lottery have funded the 'What Keeps Us Well' project, a partnership between Surrey County Council, Surrey Heritage, It’s Not Your Birthday But.. (INYBB) and multiple community groups.
The 'What Keeps Us Well’ project will explore how people in Surrey have kept themselves well throughout history.
It aims to turn to the archival collections written and created by Surrey’s people from up to 900 years ago to inspire conversations around wellness, identity and belonging.
It will look at the six-miles of records preserved at Surrey History Centre that tell the story of how local people improved their wellbeing over the past nine centuries through food, exercise, coming together for shared activities, taking notice of the world around them, hobbies and recreation.
By exploring these historical documents, the project hopes to resonate with communities in Surrey and inspire them to look after their well-being.
Together with INYBB artists, facilitators, and Surrey Heritage archivists, Surrey County council says the project will deliver:
- 36 creative community workshops
- Training and community days at Surrey History Centre
- A co-created exhibition to showcase and celebrate what we find in the archives and what it inspires us to create
- A documentary-style film of the project
- A book of written work inspired by the project
- A digital wellness guide that makes heritage more accessible for present and future generations
- An open creative call-out for artists and writers across Surrey and beyond to respond to a single point of inspiration.
Denise Turner-Stewart who is a cabinet member for customer and communities and deputy leader at Surrey County Council, says that she wants Surrey to celebrate it's identity.
"I think as well if you look at other areas, you know some some counties have a really, really strong identity and I think it's really important for Surrey to feel that strength of identity and and recognise everything that went into making Surrey, the beautiful, wonderful and strong county that is today."
Turner-Stewart also emphasised how this project can use the past to effect how Surrey evolves going forward
"We will really be pushing this out through our libraries and we'll also be inviting other venues to come forward and to help to promote this
This is a really great opportunity to have their input into this wonderful project to just capture Surrey life, but also look back at Surrey life, how it's evolved over the centuries and look look ahead as as how we want Surrey to to evolve going forward."