Orcadians are set to benefit from a project that aims to help those who struggle with low mood during the cold and dark winter months.
The University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh’s Wintering Well programme is coming to the Orkney Islands on Sunday, as the clocks go back and days become shorter.
Hoping to support those with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), residents will be able to borrow a Wintering Well box from their library.
Each box will contain a therapeutic lamp aimed to counter the effects of low light on mental health during the darker months, along with a guidebook on simple indoor and outdoor activities which can help develop a better winter routine.
Residents will also be given access to a free online course to help users tackle the effects of SAD.
Orkney Library Services’ mobile library van, known as “Booky McBookface”, will help distribute the boxes across the islands, where residents will see less than six hours of daylight by the middle of winter.
Vikki Kerr, team manager of libraries and archives at Orkney Islands Council, said: “In Orkney, the winters are long and hard, and people on the mainland and on our outer islands often suffer with limited resources if they experience depression and mental health challenges.
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“The Wintering Well scheme is a simple yet effective way to reach those people and give them the opportunity to change their experience of winter.”
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Community link practitioner Erika Copland added: “Within our role, and in GP practices across Orkney, we encounter people affected by SAD – there are those of us who have family members ourselves who are affected.
“Having seen the results of the research carried out alongside the pilot scheme in East Dunbartonshire, we feel that the Wintering Well boxes are going to be a valuable added resource for our community, allowing folk to experience a SAD lamp and other tools to enable them to cope better with the long, dark winter days.”
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The expansion to Orkney follows a successful pilot in East Dunbartonshire last year.
Interest has also crossed over to Ireland, as Dublin’s libraries also prepare to trial the scheme.
During its pilot, the boxes were loaned out more than 200 times and were renewed 349 times by libraries involved.
East Dunbartonshire plans to run the scheme again this year.
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The development of the Wintering Well boxes is part of the UKRI-funded research project Living with SAD, led by Professor Hester Parr of the University of Glasgow.
Professor Parr said that according to the Royal College of Psychiatry, more than a million people across Britain experience symptoms of SAD, including emotional challenges, lowered mood, and feelings of anxiety.
She added: “Our Wintering Well boxes are aimed at helping people find ways to deal with those feelings through creative activities while finding connection and support with others who struggle with low mood.
“Our research shows that use of therapeutic lamps, combined with new outdoor routines and programmatic encouragement to notice natural light, really do make a difference to those with this form of depression.”
