A pioneering project which enables library-goers to borrow kits to help them tackle the effects of seasonal affective disorder is set to roll out across the UK’s four nations this winter.
After the clocks change on Sunday 25th October, hundreds of Wintering Well Boxes will be available for loan from British public library services after two years of successful trials in Scotland.
The boxes were developed with Economic and Social Research Council funding by researchers from the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh in consultation with people who experience symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) during the shorter days of winter.
They include a therapeutic light lamp which can help replace the beneficial effects of outdoor sunlight during shorter winter days, and a guidebook with tips on simple indoor and outdoor activities that can help support a healthy new winter routine. The boxes also offer access to a free online course helping users tackle the effects of SAD.
The boxes aim to help alleviate the mental and physical problems caused by SAD. More than a million people in the UK are estimated to live with SAD during the winter months as a result of reduced access to natural light, according to figures from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
A total of 16 public library services across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland will share 600 of the boxes this year. This expansion comes after the first loan scheme was introduced in public libraries in East Dunbartonshire in 2024.
Since then, local people have checked out the Wintering Well Boxes more than 1000 times, and more boxes have also been made available to library services in Glasgow and the Orkney Islands.
Professor Hester Parr of the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, has led the Wintering Well project since its inception. She said: “Seasonal affective disorder can be debilitating for many people, who dread the annual effects of the shorter days and struggle to stay physically and mentally healthy through winter.
“When we began work on the Living with SAD research project which led to the development of the Wintering Well Box, we wanted to explore whether SAD was an annual inevitability or whether change was possible.
“With two years of real-world use and feedback from users now available, we can see that people can be helped to make changes that improve their winter wellbeing through the active, creative measures we’ve developed with input from people who live with SAD. Wintering Well Boxes have helped hundreds of people improve their mood, make healthy changes to their routines, and develop a brighter outlook on winter by adopting distinctive coping strategies. We’re excited to reach many more this time around.”
The project is co-led by the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Hayden Lorimer. He said: “We’re thrilled that library services in all four nations have given their support to the Wintering Well project, which is a direct result of the impact we’ve been able to make with the help of Scottish public libraries over the last couple of years.
“This winter may be more challenging for many as we face additional uncertainty about how the country will be affected by what is forecast to be the strongest El Niño for a thousand years. Our Wintering Well boxes aim to help people deal with those negative emotions through creative exercises, as well as offering free access to an online course to help them develop more healthy habits and improve their mental wellbeing.”
The Wintering Well Boxes were officially launched this week at an event in Harrogate library, one of the locations in North Yorkshire where the kits will be available this year. 150 boxes are available for loan by library users in North Yorkshire following an award from Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants programme.
The loan scheme will also be accompanied by a series of Winter Well-Being events planned by the council, which is the first and only service in England to offer access to the boxes this year.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for libraries, Councillor Simon Myers, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as pioneers of the Wintering Well Boxes for England, which we are sure will be well-used as the darker months approach.
“Such initiatives that boost the health and well-being of our residents are integral, and they complement the resources already available at our libraries.
“I would like to thank library staff and volunteers for getting the service up and running. It proves that our library branches are so much more than places to borrow books. They are at the heart of our communities and a hub of support when people need it.”
North Yorkshire library user Jenny Barrie has had early access to a Wintering Well box in advance of the kits being made widely available to other local people. She said: “”The winter is always quite a depressing time of year with the darkness, cold, and often wet weather. I certainly feel worse during the winter months, with much less energy. The lamp itself is very simple and easy to use and I think it is making a difference to me. The guide and course has also given me some good ideas on how to look at the winter months differently and I am going to make a concerted effort this year to look at winter differently.”
Luke Burton, Director Libraries, Arts Council England, said “We know how important libraries are in supporting the needs of their communities and I’m delighted that we have funded the Wintering Well Boxes project through our National Lottery Project Grant programme. I’m sure that the events and access to light therapies will benefit people in North Yorkshire as we approach the darker months and I look forward to following the project’s progress in helping to alleviate isolation and loneliness.”
Isobel Hunter MBE, Chief Executive of Libraries Connected, said: “Public libraries support wellbeing in countless ways, and the Wintering Well Box loan scheme is a brilliant example of how they help people take positive steps for their mental and physical health. For many people, the shorter days and darker months of winter can have a real impact on wellbeing. As trusted, welcoming spaces at the heart of communities, libraries are uniquely placed to help. We’re proud to see this innovative project expanding across the UK and supporting more people to develop healthy winter routines.”
In Wales, 11 regional libraries are working in partnership to offer boxes to users in Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Neath-Port Talbot, Blaenau-Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Powys, Conwy, Newport, Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly. The Wintering Well guidebook Light is a Right: A Guide to Wintering Well will be available to anyone in Wales via BorrowBox, the digital library platform.
In Northern Ireland, users at four libraries – Dungannon, Omagh, Portaferry, Glengormley (Belfast) – will be able to loan out a Wintering Well Box.
In Scotland, Edinburgh Library Service is making Wintering Well Boxes available to users for the first time in three community libraries in in Wester Hailes, Morningside and Muirhouse. Librarygoers across East Renfrewshire will also benefit from access to Wintering Well Boxes for the first time after the local authority joined this year’s lending scheme.
Meanwhile, in Glasgow, the number of Wintering Well Boxes available to users citywide has been boosted to 185, reflecting the popularity of an initial scheme launch in 2025. Libraries in East Dunbartonshire and Orkney which have previously been part of the loan scheme will continue to offer Wintering Well Boxes to service users this year.
For more information on the Wintering Well project, visit https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/livingwithsad/winteringwell/