What Keeps Us Well

A Heritage and Wellbeing Partnership Project

It’s Not Your Birthday But… (INYBB) is delighted to announce the award of £99,781 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for What Keeps Us Well — a year-long project with Surrey History Centre (SHC), part of Surrey County Council, which will explore how people in Surrey have kept themselves well throughout history and how this can inspire us to keep well today.  The project will run from August 2025 to July 2026.

About the Project

Working alongside three community partners — The Halow Project, Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum, and Surrey Youth Groups — the project will use Surrey’s historic archives as creative inspiration for conversations around wellness, identity, and belonging. The six miles of records preserved at Surrey History Centre tell the story of how Surrey people have 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. Together with INYBB artists, facilitators and SHC archivists, the project will deliver:

• 36 creative community workshops
• Training and community days at SHC
• 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 from the archives through creative writing and visual arts

The programme aims to engage over 46,500 people, especially those currently underrepresented in heritage activity. The work will highlight how Surrey’s nature, places, and people contribute to wellbeing — both then and now.

Why Now?

At a time when mental health issues are rising across all sections of our community, this project will explore collections in the archive that demonstrate how people have kept themselves well over the centuries. Historic documents written and created by Surrey’s people are an untapped resource that can resonate with and inspire our diverse communities today.

Community Partners

The Halow Project: supporting neurodiverse young people in Guildford and Woking

Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum: fostering understanding and cultural inclusion across the county

Surrey Youth Groups: including LGBTQ+ youth, carers, and neurodiverse young people in Woking and Knaphill

Get Involved

We’re calling on:

• Volunteers – help with exhibitions, archive research, and open call entries
• Venues – libraries, health centres, museums and more to host the free exhibition
• Artists/Writers – an open call will launch this autumn.

Please contact It’s Not Your Birthday But… to express your interest.

Stay updated via the It’s Not Your Birthday But… website or follow along on social media @itsnotyourbirthdaybut.