Inspired by the great efforts of Comic Relief, and creating awareness of people facing poverty, service users from Cygnet Sedgley House and Lodge, together with its Occupational Therapy team, donated eight bags of food to the local Baptist church which will go to those in need.
Over several weeks, the service users were able to identify and collect food and household items which they felt would be important to an individual struggling in the community.
The service users were then able to meet the local Pastor Richard to make their donation.
Hailey Roberts, Head Occupational Therapist at the service, said: “We always encourage involvement in national campaigns such as Children in Need and Comic Relief. This year, the patients were inspired by Red Nose Day 2024 which marked the last time that Sir Lenny Henry would host the show.
“Lenny grew up in the same local area as our service and that created an interest from the patients to support the cause. With support from the Occupational Therapy Team, we chose to creating an awareness for people facing poverty local and begun exploring local community links.”
Hailey explained how the cause enabled service users to increase their engagement in the local community by enjoying an outing to the local supermarket to buy the items and it supported them to develop important life skills such as budgeting.
She added: “The service users were keen to give back locally. By creating local links with the community, we will hopefully have more opportunities for future joint projects.
“They were all so pleased with the amount they were able to donate. Many of our service users could relate to the individuals that will benefit from our donations, because of their own past experiences. That really helped to generate a sense of giving back.
“As an occupational therapy team, building rapport and community links is an essential part of our rehabilitation process, opening up for future opportunities to be explored and to develop potential volunteering opportunities.
“All the services users involved were provided with a sense of being a part of their community and we could not be any prouder of their efforts.”
One service user said: “I have enjoyed donating as when I was homeless the food banks helped me, I used to enjoy the sandwiches I had from there.”
Pastor Richard praised the efforts of the staff team and service users.
He said: “Any food donations no matter how small, are a massive help to those struggling in the community.
“Only yesterday before visiting Sedgley, we received multiple calls requesting help, unfortunately, we did not have the supplies until now, thank you.”
Cygnet Sedgley House and Cygnet Sedgley Lodge, on Woodcross Street, offer a 34 bed high support inpatient rehabilitation (level 2) service for men with complex needs.