Colleagues, volunteers and patients at the Welland Centre, based at St Mary’s Hospital in Kettering, recently celebrated the official opening of a new workshop shed.
You might be wondering why there was an opening for a shed.
The newly built workshop, which has been funded by Northamptonshire Health Charity, provides a space for volunteers and patients to create bespoke and innovative designs, promoting and aiding recovery.
Sue Birchall, Lead Occupational Therapist at NHFT
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), provides community, in-patient and mental health services across the county.
The Welland Centre provides in-patient care for adults with mental health conditions, supporting patients’ recovery to provide them with the treatment, skills and opportunities to receive care in the community or at home.
The centre has a dedicated secure garden space, which offers a wide-range of rehabilitation activities, including a poly-tunnel to grow vegetables, raised plant beds to plant flowers, and now the new addition of a large workshop – fondly named by patients ‘Shed Sheeran’.
By working with patients, volunteers and colleagues to provide them with a sense of responsibility and purpose, with the confidence to complete new tasks and celebrate their own achievements.
The large shed enables the Occupational Therapy teams to deliver a wide-range of activities for patients
Angela Hillery, Chief Executive of NHFT, joined patients, volunteers and colleagues for the official opening of the workshop on Thursday 30 June, stating how proud and delighted she was to see the games, spice racks and creations that the patients had created.
Sue Birchall, Lead Occupational Therapist at NHFT, said:
By providing patients with the opportunity to take part in activities such as gardening or wood work, we can help to aid their recovery through learning new skills, achieving accomplishments and growing their confidence.
We are grateful to Northamptonshire Health Charity for the donation which has enabled us to purchase the workshop, it will make a real difference to the patients and colleagues.
It was lovely to be invited along to this opening event and hear from patients first-hand just how powerful the impact of the shed and all the activities it enables the teams to provide, has been on their recoveries.