Admittance to hospital, particularly in the long-term, means that young people miss milestones that are often taken for granted by their peers and counterparts in the community. Living day-to-day on an inpatient ward, surrounded by others who are also suffering from mental health difficulties, can paint a dark and gloomy picture of the world outside of hospital and make young people forget that there is still joy and light and celebration to look forward to.
Prom is a rite of passage for the current generation of adolescents, and the struggles that young people deal with every single day should not exclude them from this experience. The young people at Cygnet Hospital Sheffield have worked hard to keep up with their academic commitments and many of them have achieved qualifications, despite their own difficulties and the additional pressures that this past year has placed on them. With all of this in mind, the team decided to go all out to make sure that the young people had a prom experience that they would remember for the rest of their lives.
The team hired a huge marquee to go in the communal courtyard (complete with chequered dancefloor), borrowed a disco ball, hired a PA system complete with its own lighting (and persuaded Andy from Maintenance to DJ), bought a red carpet and hired the posts and ropes to go with it, spoke to the amazing kitchen team who made the most incredible buffet, hired a Range Rover limousine and had two of our staff act as doormen for the evening.
They also bought bottles of ‘no-secco’ and plastic champagne flutes, created a mocktail menu and hosted a bar, made up individual bags of sweets, hired a professional photographer to capture the magical moments, found professional hairdressers and makeup artists to come in and glam the young people up, loaned a selfie mirror for our young people to pose for pictures with staff and peers, had balloon arches made for the gates in the courtyard, and received donations of cupcakes and other baked goods from local small businesses.
On the evening there was a huge staff presence – members of the education, ward and MDT teams all attended to support and celebrate the young people despite the event being outside of their usual working hours. The whole of the Sheffield staff team pulled together to make sure that everything went alright on the night, showing a level of teamwork that anyone would be proud of.
Staff and young people voted who they wished to be “prom royalty” and the two youngsters with the most votes were crowned during prom. One young person in particular won by a landslide, and was cheered on with pure, heartfelt enthusiasm by their peers. Each young person was also presented with a prom award, with categories such as “most likely to sleep through an earthquake”, “hardest working”, and “most likely to steal a penguin from a zoo”. This was a great way to show how well the know the young people, as well as to celebrate their individual quirks, hobbies and personality traits.
The night truly could not have been more successful, everyone in attendance had a great time and the hospital has been abuzz with talk about the prom ever since. To view more images from the event click on the gallery below:
We would like to publicly thank the following external providers for their services and donations:
- AMRC – for their numerous clothing donations
- Beth Hopkinson – Photographer
- Bliss Booth – Selfie Mirror Hire
- Ellie Fearn and Bella – Katie Daley Academy
- Fraser Charlesworth – Marquee hire from Totally Gazeboed
- Gemma – Hairdresser at NJUK Clowne
- Jack Eagle – for producing all graphics for posters, certificates and menus
- Lisa Chambers – Independent Hairdresser
- Mark – Disco Ball donation from Wild Wedding Days
- Oasis Limousines – Limo Hire
- Pizza Hut – for offering us BOGOF on food on the night
- Sheffield PA Hire – PA and Disco Lighting Hire
- Sure Seal Flat Roofing – for their monetary donation
- Verity Murray-Scott – Hairdresser at Vee Creations