Be WELL Community Health Project came into being in 1988 as a result of the vision of a group of people working in the area who were concerned that local people should be involved in determining their own health needs and participating in defining what could contribute to their enhanced health, well-being and social functioning.

Be WELL operates from two recently refurbished former council houses and is often referred to by local people as "The Healing House." The project is open to anyone living in Craigmillar or who is registered with a Craigmillar GP.

The project aims to provide a community health resource, operating on community development principles, where local people can meet to:

• Draw on the support and strengths of the community.
• Explore their health issues and concerns
• Formulate a collective response to those concerns.
• Develop a creative and responsive range of services and activities which local people have identified as enhancing, physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

We also aim to help improve the health of the community of Craigmillar and address health inequalities both locally and in a wider context by:

• Working with a range of local, city wide and national agencies in a collaborative, multi-agency or partnership way as appropriate.
• Fostering and facilitating a two-way exchange between service planners and local people.

At Be WELL we offer a wide range of services and a changing programme of activities which include:

• Drop-in - 3 days a week. One day includes activities such as crafts and story telling. The drop-in is run by volunteers who provide tea and healthy snack lunches. Project users have the opportunity to enjoy a warm, welcoming and supportive environment.
• Complementary therapies - acupuncture, reflexology, therapeutic massage, cranio-sacral therapy and kinesiology
• Counselling Service - open-ended, person centred counselling by trained volunteer counsellors.
• Groups and short courses - communications skills, confidence and assertiveness, relaxation, breastfeeding support café and line dancing.
• Men's Group - self support group, offering a meeting place for men which they decide how to use.
• Heart to Heart Group - non medical source of support, information and encouragement to people suffering from, or recovering from heart disease or surgery.
• Free Crèche
• Annual Stakeholders' Away Day