With increasing pressure on health and social care services, there needs to be a shift away from treating illness as it arises towards preventing it and supporting people to live well with it. In this article, the authors describe the ‘recovery and living well’ approach and the role of Recovery Colleges in that approach. A fundamental aspect of Recovery College is that people are supported and enabled to take control of their condition and live the lives they want to live through courses delivered in the local community and co-produced and co-facilitated by people with lived experience and professionals. Nurses can support the people they care for to understand their health condition and well-being needs and learn how to live well by introducing elements of a ‘recovery and living well’ approach in their practice.