At the beginning of the month, as part of the VE Day celebrations, the team held a BBQ. There was also a quiz with two teams, one led hospital manager Pauline Rees and one led by Head of Care Kevin Hall. On VE Day itself there was afternoon tea. The VE Day celebrations were supported by the local community with some decorations provided by a neighbour involved with Link4Youth – Highlands Community Base and which were donated by Poundshop in Mexborough. The night staff saw the day out by singing ‘We’ll Meet Again’ out in the garden.
Following the success of the VE Day celebrations service users suggested the idea of holding a ‘lockdown party’ over the weekend. The weekend team were quick to react to the idea and put on a buffet, party games and a disco. Senior nurse Marc Moran led the dancefloor with the Macarena.
“All the team smashed it, and the service users really enjoyed themselves.”Hannah Lovett, Support Worker
Further celebrations were held for Mental Health Awareness Week with another BBQ and quiz. They also held a Kindness Challenge as part of the week’s theme of Kindness. Team members also printed off inspirational quotes that had meaning to them.
In addition to the events above the admin team have also been getting involved by launching their ‘Aspen’s Admin Breakfast Shack’. Sharon Farran, Hospital Administrator, the brains behind this idea, wanted to support the Therapy Team and give service users something to look forward to each morning. The breakfast shack has a different menu every day and so far has included pancakes, waffles, crumpets, muffins, toasties and full English Breakfast.
Cygnet Aspen House is a 20 bed service in Mexborough specialising in high dependency inpatient rehabilitation for women who have severe and enduring mental illness.