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Posted on 1 Aug 2023

Service user led projects at Rampton Hospital and Arnold Lodge have been recognised in the National Service User Awards.

The annual awards celebrate service user led projects within the NHS and private mental health, learning disability and autism services nationwide. The Awards are held to recognise the work that service users have achieved through these projects and what has been made possible at a local and national level. 

Becky Sutton, Chief Operating Officer said:

“Colleagues at Arnold Lodge and Rampton Hospital are committed to providing the best possible care, and working with our patients on these fantastic projects is just one example of how they do such brilliant work supporting them. The service users have worked so hard and done an incredible job. Huge congratulations to everyone involved, wishing them all the best of luck for the next stage.”

The Hearing Voices Support Group at Rampton Hospital has been shortlisted in the Innovation in Recovery Award. The monthly group allows those hearing voices to share their struggles and their strengths.

The experience of hearing auditory sounds or spoken words that no one else can hear in the mind or even with their ears is misunderstood. The group came up with a project to educate others. There is such a negative press and lack of education around voice hearing and they wanted to help break down this barrier.

The group created an emotional, real-life film made for those who have never encountered this experience and also for those who have, to know they’re not alone. A heart felt account of what voice hearing is like, the lead up to psychosis, hitting rock bottom in high secure settings and a journey of struggle and heartbreak to the land of hope and living with this mental illness. This has been emotional and powerful for service users and colleagues. The feedback has been awe-inspiring and confidence boosting for the service users.

One patient commented: “Someone asked me what difference this would have made if you were shown this as a youth, which actually made me think that this could actually change lives. Given that I currently reside in a high secure environment the staff have been a brilliant bridge between me and bringing this project to life. It’s made me realise that I can put my challenging past into a positive future, not just for me but for others. If this project helps just one person then it would have been more than worth it.”

The Trust has two projects shortlisted in the Celebrating Diversity Award category.

The first of these fantastic projects is the Celebrating 75 years of Windrush Anniversary project at Arnold Lodge, Medium Secure Unit

2023 has seen the 76th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush which arrived in Britain on 22 June 1948. As a result of this milestone patients asked if they could create a social event which would be co-led by them where they got to share their own personal experiences of Windrush and those of family and friends. On the 22 June the event was held at Arnold Lodge and was a great success.

During the event staff provided some food from a local Caribbean restaurant. Patients chose the restaurant and food. The patients were grateful for the opportunity to be able to choose the specific food as this was closely related to their heritage.

A patient said – ‘The food was amazing. The conversation between each patient was nice to hear.”

Arnold Lodge are honoured to be nominated for this award. Spreading the word about diversity is so important and something they will continue with. The staff and patients involved have agreed that this could be a group that can be arranged to meet more frequently.

LGBTQ+ Folk and Friends project at Rampton Hospital is the second of these fantastic projects. This project was started to raise awareness and share a personal story in a fun light-hearted way but with an educational spin and important message. It is based on a well-known children's collection of books but with an original twist.

Fantastic artwork has been created of characters being used to raise awareness, helping to give insight into the broad spectrum of diversity, relating to LGBTQ+. Showcasing the different gender identities and sexual orientations in a fun way. The patient is now in in the process of writing and illustrating a short book including all the characters in different scenario's, which can then be animated and brought to life in a short educational video. Their inspiration for the future would be to see their work be part of staff and patient induction so this cascades the message of acceptance.

The patient commented: “I know from my own personal transitioning journey that I would have been grateful to have the awareness, support and visibility around LGBTQ+. If I could make at least one person feel comfortable in being able to be themselves, it would bring hope for many giving us united future.”

Although this project is still in the infancy stages, we hope this project will have longevity and will make a huge positive impact within the Trust for many years to come.

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 20 September 2023. More on the awards here: National Service User Awards (nsua.org)