Over the summer, the previously disused communal area has been transformed into a well-equipped gym space, accessible for all four wards of the hospital.
New Active Life Lead Peter Morton, and Trainer Ryan Kelly hosted the event, which saw service users and staff from each ward have chance to attend the gym throughout the day, try out the kit, encourage their peers, try some boxing pad work, and pick up some helpful advice on physical wellbeing, as well as picking up some healthy snacks and other freebies.
Active Life Lead Peter, said: “The event was a huge success. We had a tonne of engagement with staff and service users, including some that were perhaps hesitant to engage or were a little apprehensive about using the gym. We now have 50% of service users attending the gym regularly and over 10% of staff have signed up as well. Seeing people enjoying the space and feeling the immediate benefit of being physically active was a joy to watch.
“The Active Life team would like to thank everyone who attended and supported on the day, including the Occupational Therapy team, and all of the staff from Redwood ward who brought so much energy to the afternoon session! A special mention as well to Chris from Thatsokay.co.uk – a mental health clothing brand, who kindly donated some t-shirts for us to give out to service users, some of these have already been worn in the gym!”