Roll for Initiative - Dungeons and Dragons for wellbeing

Hear from The Amelia Scott on how their D&D programme became a successful wellbeing intervention.

Does your library host regular D&D sessions? Are you thinking about setting up a D&D group or considering how you might develop your existing tabletop games programme further?

For years, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has been a beloved game enjoyed in libraries around the world. The Amelia Scott has gone a step further with the Roll for Initiative programme.

The Amelia Scott is a unique centre that brings people and culture together. It is a place for meeting, getting help, learning, and socialising, with a museum, art gallery, libraries, study spaces, cafe, and council services all under one roof.

Working with young people, academic partners, and wellbeing specialists, The Amelia has developed a structured D&D offer that uses the power of storytelling, imagination, and cooperative play to support confidence, connection, and mental wellbeing. This work has helped to demonstrate that libraries aren’t just places for books – they’re places for people and for meaningful, often life-changing connections.

Daniel Huckfield will talk about the evolution of the D&D programme and will cover:

• How a classic tabletop game became a meaningful wellbeing intervention
• What was learned along the way – the challenges, surprises, and successes
• Practical guidance for other libraries wanting to run their own programme

During the event The Amelia team will also be officially launching The Amelia Scott D&D Toolkit. A resource designed to help library teams everywhere replicate, adapt, and build on what has been created at Tunbridge Wells.

About the speaker

Daniel Huckfield is the Creative Health Projects Officer at The Amelia Scott, Tunbridge Wells. With over seven years’ experience in developing and facilitating wellbeing and creative health interventions, Daniel has lived experience of mental health struggles and brings this experience to his facilitation work. Daniel has developed his practice in areas including interventions to those at risk of social isolation and neurodivergent individuals. He is focused on exploring how creative health and wellbeing can be taken beyond more traditional arts and crafts activities.

Photo credits: The Amelia Scott, Assembly Hall Theatre