Heritage and Social Prescribing - the evidence

More recently, in December 2024, Frontier Economics has published a report, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), showing that engagement in culture and heritage creates £8 billion in value per year for the UK. Earlier that year, Historic England’s own research estimated the average individual benefit of cultural heritage to be £515, with a collective WELLBY (Wellbeing Adjusted Life Year) value of £29 billion across England. This quantification illustrates the significant economic and wellbeing benefits of cultural heritage and demonstrates its significance and potential to improve quality of life.  

Historic England has supported and developed programmes which have been delivering wellbeing to our society for years – from established programmes, such as Heritage at Risk and Heritage Schools, to new investment initiatives like the Heritage Action Zones and the Everyday Heritage Grants, alongside a plethora of volunteering and research projects. The capacity of the historic environment to contribute to individual and collective wellbeing  is the basis of Historic England’s Heritage and Wellbeing Strategy, published in 2022,  which outlined how to ensure that everyone can benefit from engagement with heritage and the historic environment. 

The range of wellbeing opportunities provided by the heritage sector is demonstrated in Historic England’s Heritage and Social Prescribing report (2022), the Wellbeing and Historic Environment Assessment (2018), the What Works for Wellbeing review on Heritage and Wellbeing (2019) and the Heritage Alliance report on Heritage, Health and Wellbeing (2020). In 2022, Historic England also published a Wellbeing special edition of its Research magazine, spotlighting some particularly good examples of heritage projects, which supported the health and wellbeing of a variety of communities across the country.   

In March 2024, many of the pioneering wellbeing and heritage practitioners in the country presented their most recent achievements in the first Wellbeing and Heritage Conference at Delapré Abbey.  

Social prescribing pathways have been successfully piloted through award-winning projects such as Archaeology on Prescription in York, Heritage Link Worker in East Anglia and Kirkham Heritage and Wellbeing programme in Lancashire. 

All this evidence shows that heritage engagement can be used successfully for both maintaining good health and wellbeing for longer, as well as accompanying clinical treatment and recovery for a variety of conditions, especially those linked to mental health, dementia and PTSD. It is also a powerful intervention for addressing issues such as loneliness and isolation. The research is showing how heritage is particularly well placed to: 

Our local and national heritage is there for all of us, giving us opportunities to go out and explore stories, landmarks and landscapes that excite, inspire and connect us to the places we live in and the communities we are part of. It is our link to our past and our future and helps us find our personal meaning and strength, wherever we are.  

The wellbeing benefits of heritage can be accessed in many ways, such as through volunteering, visiting historic sites and places, sharing memories, healing through meaningful engagement, discovering your local area and exploring the environment around us.  

Find out more on our Heritage and Social Prescribing Advice Hub and on Historic England’s Wellbeing pages.