Hull 2017

Make It Happen

How do you promote a health and wellbeing message through the lens of arts and culture, without mentioning the words "health" or "wellbeing"?

The challenge.

During Matt's time at Hull UK City of Culture 2017, he was given the task of overseeing a health and wellbeing campaign which was delivered in partnership with Hull City Council. His challenge was to promote the health and wellbeing benefits of engaging in arts and culture without using the words "health" or "wellbeing", to an audience of over 40s with a focus on men. To structure the activity, Matt and his colleagues were encouraged to use the 5 Ways of Wellbeing.

Make It Happen campaign image of four people stood in front of a red shutter which says "Live Work Play" on it.

To help create a structure for this year-long campaign, Matt decided to tackle each Way of Wellbeing individually at different points throughout the year. For each of the 5 Ways (Take Notice, Get Active, Learn, Connect and Give), the team created an engagement activity and a promotional video, both of which were linked to the Hull UK City of Culture 2017 programme. For example, the year kicked off with Take Notice on Blue Monday. The first video followed Hull resident, Pam, and her husband around Made In Hull, encouraging them to look up. To support the Take Notice messaging, Matt also created a pop-up quiz which was hosted in Paragon Interchange. With 5 unusual pictures of Hull landmarks, members of the public were challenged to identify which buildings the photos were of. Across the year, a whole range of activities and videos were created and the words "health" and "wellbeing" were avoided like the plague.

The approach.

"I know that for some people it can feel as though culture is not for them. I was initially sceptical about whether there would be something for me in the programme, but my tour of Made in Hull made me realise there definitely was. I’d normally be at home on a Sunday doing the cleaning, but now I’m always out and loving it."

Pam Scott, Make It Happen Participant

The results.

Across the year-long campaign, 12,103 people visited the Make It Happen webpage and the videos amassed 146,074 views. With over 60% of those who interacted with the content were the target demographic, as well as the vast majority of those who engaged with the in-person activities. Overall, Matt and the team, along with Hull City Council, we're blown away by the impact of their stealth health and wellbeing campaign had on the people of Hull.

Four people sat in a café at a table laughing and talking.

Let's work together.

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