Cygnet Appletree, on Frederick Street, Meadowfield, provides specialist services including Pippin Ward, a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and Bramley Ward, an intensive support service for women living with personality disorders and complex mental health needs.
Keen to give something back to the wider community, staff organised a charity day filled with activities that brought colleagues together while raising money for an important cause. The event featured a highly successful raffle with prizes generously donated by staff, a popular pick ‘n’ mix trolley, a prosecco tombola, a sweepstake game, and a bake sale.
The fundraiser received fantastic support from across the hospital, with staff showing great enthusiasm and generosity throughout the day.
The Stroke Association shared their appreciation following the event, saying:
“We would like to thank everyone who took part in the Cygnet Appletree Fundraiser for raising the generous donation of £402 to the Stroke Association. The day sounded wonderful and we are extremely grateful that you chose to support our work with it.”
Joanna Smith, Specialist Occupational Therapist at Cygnet Appletree, who helped organise the event alongside the occupational therapy team, explained the personal motivation behind the chosen charity.
She said: “We chose this charity in particular because there are a few of us who have been impacted by either family members or ourselves having a stroke, but also been aware of some of our colleagues in the wider team having their own experiences with strokes.
“We have personal experience of how a stroke can tear someone’s life apart and the importance of the recovery and treatment provided after a stroke, which the Stroke Association are all about. We felt it was a relatable and important charity to raise money for and wanted to go into 2026 giving something back to the wider community.
“Strokes impact people so differently and the work the Stroke Association does is so important to that person’s individual recovery. This is similar to the importance of person-centred care in mental health, which we provide daily.”