About us

At the What Works Centre for Wellbeing we believe that improving wellbeing is the ultimate goal of policy and community action. 

We are an independent collaborating centre that develops and shares robust and accessible wellbeing evidence  to improve decision making that is used by:

• Governments – national, local, and the wider public sector
• Businesses – large, small and multi national, professional bodies
• Civil society – charities, social enterprises and community groups

Our team works closely with partners to answer key questions on what works to improve wellbeing and identify the gaps in the research to be filled.

How do we do this?

Our approach is independent, evidence based, collaborative, practical, open and iterative.

This means we work with universities and other partners to understand what works to improve wellbeing. We use the growing body of wellbeing data from qualitative and quantitative sources in the UK. 

We translate the findings into clear and practical evidence that is quality assured by our Advisory Panel. We share evidence across our engaged network. 

What is a What Works Centre?

The Centre is a registered Community Interest Company.

The majority of our work is currently funded by the Economic Social Research Council, government departments, and the National Lottery Community Fund.

You can view all our current and former funders and partners.

We are part of the What Works Network. This network improves the way government and other organisations create, share and use high quality evidence for decision-making.

Other members of the What Works Network are: