Archaeology on Prescription (AoP) is an award-winning and innovative project in York located at a city-council owned former care home and heritage site. AoP offers adult participants experiencing mild-to-moderate mental health needs, disability, long-term chronic conditions, and loneliness a chance to take part in archaeological and creative activities to improve their wellbeing.
AoP has been delivered at Willow House heritage site by York Archaeology since September 2021. Participants are referred by a range of local partner organisations, many of which specialise in supporting young people. From 2022, the AoP programme started to receive referrals from local NHS-based social prescribers.
Aims of AoP
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To have a positive and meaningful impact on the wellbeing of all who enrol by providing new pathways to learn, take part in training, gain accredited qualifications, and find opportunities for employment with York Archaeology or other
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To contribute to the community, economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the City of York and the people who live there
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To increase the diversity of participants in archaeology projects by working directly with new audiences
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To create an offer that will encourage those who may not have engaged with heritage before to take part
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To work in partnership with organisations across York to act as a bridge between arts, culture, heritage, and health in the city
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To put accessibility at the core of all engagement work to ensure that there are as few barriers to participation as possible
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To inspire a sense of connection with place.
Activities
Participants are encouraged to develop their own experience, with complete freedom to choose, and switch between, the activities they engage with. They have been involved in a variety of archaeological activities from clearing the Willow House site, digging and excavating, to recording, cataloguing and identifying different finds and artefacts. Thanks to the support of JORVIK Viking Centre interpreters during winter 2022-23, participants have also taken part in a Viking-age form of crochet (Nalbinding) and wire weaving (Trichinopoly).
As many of the people taking part in the project experience some level of social anxiety, social mixing is carefully planned. First, the person will meet the delivery team virtually, followed by a friendly and informal on-site taster session with limited numbers. They then choose to sign up for two on-site blocks of seven weeks. All activities take place within a small area to ensure that no-one feels isolated, though designated quiet spaces are also available. Each task contributes to the shared goals of the project, cementing social bonds between the team. Feeling part of a team and contributing towards meaningful research is a common theme in participant feedback.
Key partners
The first pilot, which ran in autumn 2021, was funded by several key partners, including the Assura Community Fund, the Ed De Nunzio Charitable Trust, City of York Council, Make It York’s Culture and Wellbeing fund, and the Arnold Clark Community Fund. The second pilot, which ran in spring 2022, received support from the UK government’s Community Renewal Fund and the Vale of York NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.
Due to the success of these two initiatives, York Archaeology has started regular programmes throughout the year, offering both winter and spring/summer activities.
The most recent phases of the 2023-2024 winter and spring programmes have been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and via the Shared Prosperity Fund.
The interim evaluation of the AoP’s Spring 2024 phase shows that as with previous seasons, there has been an overwhelmingly positive impact on participants’ wellbeing. From their happiness and wellness levels to their confidence and connectedness, all the data points to the ongoing success of AoP as a social prescribing project.
Awards
In May 2022, AoP’s transformative effects on York’s residents was recognised at the Museum and Heritage Awards, where York Archaeology won Community Engagement Project of the Year. Arran Johnson, Community Project Manager for AoP, was named Community Archaeologist of the Year in the 2023 Marsh Community Archaeology Awards. In the summer of 2024, the project was nominated for the first ever Heritage Social Prescribing award as part of the International Social Prescribing Conference.
Plans for the future
York Archaeology intends to continue to embed AoP as a long-term, sustained social prescribing offer in York, remaining at the forefront of the evolving social prescribing sector. They plan to continue exploring new opportunities, while building new partnerships with organisations in other social prescribing regions beyond the city, sharing the impact that such a project can have on the lives of as many people as possible.
