Please note that What Works Wellbeing will close operations on 30 April 2024.  Read more

About us

Please note that What Works Wellbeing will close operations in 30 April 2024. 

We believe that improving people’s wellbeing is the ultimate goal of effective policy and community action.

We work to understand what governments, businesses and communities can do to improve wellbeing. 

Read our strategy


For almost a decade, the What Works Centre for Wellbeing has built a reputation as the leading UK authority on wellbeing.

Our vision

To significantly contribute to a future where the wellbeing of people and communities in the UK improves year-on-year and wellbeing inequalities are reduced.

Our purpose

To find out what works to improve wellbeing and partner to put that evidence into action and create conditions for us all to thrive, now and in the future.

Our mission 

We find, share and grow wellbeing evidence and convene, guide and mobilise people

  • Find global wellbeing evidence,  synthesising insights  and accelerating access to robust research so that it is easy to find, understand and compare.
  • Share the knowledge as a public good, democratising access through translation, ensuring robust and relevant evidence reaches the right audiences in the most accessible way.
  • Grow the evidence base by identifying gaps and working together to fill them through more trials and studies, creating a learning system for wellbeing.
  • Convene people from across research, policy and practice, and amplify voices of those with low wellbeing, to share knowledge, create opportunities, and nurture new collaborations.
  • Guide people to use evidence of ‘what works’ to shape policy making and practice, and support them to generate meaningful evidence of their wellbeing impact.
  • Mobilise people to take evidence-informed action to improve lives and reduce wellbeing inequalities, and establish cultures where improvements in wellbeing are valued, meaningful and ambitious.

Our approach

We take a life course approach to wellbeing research and practice, which is:

  • Trusted
  • Independent
  • Evidence-based
  • Collaborative
  • Practical
  • Iterative
  • Open

Our focus

We focus on where we can make the biggest difference, based on current knowledge, expertise and networks:

  1. National wellbeing methods and measures
  2. Working age
  3. Place and community
  4. Loneliness and connection

> Find out more about our work and how we achieve our aims

> Read our strategy

Our audiences and collaborators

  • Government – national and local leaders, departments, and wider public sector bodies, commissioners and funders. 
  • Research – individuals and research organisations across the UK and globally.
  • Business –  large, small and multinational, and professional bodies.
  • Civil society – charities, social enterprises and community groups, as well as funders and commissioners.

We’d love to partner with you, so please get in touch.

> Learn more about how you can collaborate with us

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

As a registered Community Interest Company, we are a non-profit organisation that relies on funding grants and donations to continue our work. 

> View our current and former funders and partners.

Explore the Centre’s story so far

Key moments from our work and history

Oct 29, 2014 | By Nancy Hey
What Works Centre for Wellbeing announced today
Centre Blog
Dec 2, 2014 | By centredevelopment
Videos from our launch events 29th October – Part 2 Bristol
Guest Blog
Mar 30, 2017 | By Centre
New Board Appointments and Evidence Call on Housing
Centre Blog
May 11, 2017 | By Centre
Resource round up and Centre update
Centre Blog
Dec 26, 2018 | By Centre
Wellbeing evidence, policy and practice in 2018
Centre Blog
Jan 2, 2018 | By Nancy Hey
New evidence, guidance and research coming up in 2018
Centre Blog
Jul 6, 2018 | By Centre
Evidence round-up and reflections
Centre Blog
Nov 28, 2018 | By Tricia
Wellbeing across the lifecourse: the big picture
Guest Blog
Jan 2, 2019 | By Centre
How can wellbeing evidence inform your work in 2019?
Centre Blog
Jan 9, 2020 | By Centre
New research, guidance and opportunities in 2020
Centre Blog
Dec 4, 2019 | By Andrea
What’s happening across the What Works Network?
Guest Blog
Apr 3, 2019 | By Nancy Hey
New funding call: wellbeing methods and measures
Centre Blog
Apr 29, 2021 | By
A decade of subjective wellbeing data
Centre Blog
Mar 31, 2021 | By Peter Cheese
Wellbeing – past, present, and future
Guest Blog
Jan 7, 2021 | By Robyn
Campaign to End Loneliness joins the Centre
Centre Blog
Jul 14, 2022 | By Michael Sanders
Accelerating access to wellbeing datasets
Centre Blog
Feb 17, 2022 | By
2022 Wellbeing conferences and seminars
Centre Blog
Dec 22, 2022 | By Robyn Bignall-Donnelly
2022 Impact – Our year in review
Centre Blog
Jan 5, 2023 | By What Works Centre for Wellbeing
What’s coming up in 2023: wellbeing projects, conferences and seminars
Guest Blog
Apr 27, 2023 | By What Works Centre for Wellbeing
Celebrating 10 years of the What Works Network
Guest Blog