Families outside Derbyshire Miners Welfare Centre in Skegness, August 1968 (credit: NCMME)

By KLTV Newsdesk –

Heritage, health, and community organisations join forces to reimagine coalfield hubs for future generations

The National Coal Mining Museum for England, alongside partners CISWO, The Coal Mining Charity, Spectrum People, and Creative Minds, has secured £98,561 for a two-year project celebrating the lasting role of miners’ welfares in coalfield communities.

The initiative, supported by the Creative Health Hub at the University of Huddersfield, is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections and Communities Fund, run by the Museums Association.

It will highlight how miners’ welfares served as vital spaces for learning, recreation, and community support, while exploring how they can once again improve health and wellbeing today.

Bringing communities and heritage together

The project will unite heritage, community, health, and academic partners to deliver a diverse programme of activities supporting people facing marginalisation, mental ill-health, and physical health challenges.

A steering group of people with lived experience, including former coal industry workers and individuals living with health conditions, will guide the work.

Together, they will explore the history of miners’ welfare and develop new, creative ways to foster wellbeing through museum collections, community-held objects, and mining heritage.

From Wakefield to the wider UK

The project will first be piloted in Wakefield, before expanding regionally and nationally.

Organisers hope to revitalise community spaces and build a strong case for future investment in heritage-based approaches to creative health.

Workshops, storytelling sessions, co-curated displays, and community gardening will help people engage with coalfield heritage in ways that promote pride, resilience, and improved wellbeing.

Honouring a vital part of coalfield life

Throughout the 20th century, miners’ welfares were central to social and cultural life in Britain’s coalfields.

They provided everything from halls and reading rooms to sports fields and allotments, acting as places of connection, celebration, and rest.

Now, as many approach their centenaries and face decline, the project aims to reimagine these spaces as vibrant community hubs for the future.

Lynn Dunning, CEO of the National Coal Mining Museum, said: “Miners’ welfares were the beating heart of coalfield communities—places where people came together to support one another, learn, celebrate, and relax.

“Their legacy is not just historical, they are a brilliant example of the power of community and care.

“We’re proud to be working with CISWO, Spectrum People, Creative Minds, and the University of Huddersfield on this important project, which will honour the legacy of miners’ welfare as well as coal mining and reimagine these spaces as hubs of wellbeing and creativity for future generations.”