Published on: 27th August 2018
Patients at a Lincoln mental health rehabilitation unit are now able to be more involved in running the hospital’s on-site community café and learn new skills, thanks to a donation by the Lincoln and District branch of Soroptimist International.
The community café at Discovery House in Lincoln, run by patients and staff at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), has installed a new hatch through to the hospital’s practice kitchen; opening up more opportunities for patients to be involved in the day to day running of the café.
For patients who don’t feel confident to be in front of the house, the hatch enables them to still be involved in preparing meals without the need to be in the busy café environment. It particularly supports patients early in their recovery journey, whilst they learn new skills around food preparation and build their confidence for interacting with other people.
The improvements have been possible thanks to a generous donation by joint presidents Jasmit Phull and Jill Warren, and other members of Soroptimist International Lincoln and District who organised several fundraising events including a charity ball.
Jasmit Phull has close links to the unit where both her husband and son work as consultant psychiatrists. She said she was proud to be part of supporting people on their recovery journey and she believes mental health is just as important as physical health.
Mrs Phull said:
Soroptimist International is a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women and girls. Our network has over 75,000 club members in 122 countries who work at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls.
2018 to 2028 is our ‘decade of action’ and we were so pleased to be able to do something meaningful for local health services, which was really going to support not only the ladies receiving support at Discovery House, but all of the patients at the hospital.
Donna Bradford, who oversees the patient-led community café said:
The café is such an important part of our recovery ethos as a rehabilitation service. It provides people with an opportunity to learn new skills they can use in their own lives for food preparation, but also builds confidence in their own abilities and interacting with others.
The café is very popular with staff, patients and the local community and we pride ourselves in the role it plays in breaking down barriers surrounding mental health, as well as the positive impact it has on our patient’s recovery.
We are so grateful to Mrs Phull, Mrs Warren and all members of the Lincoln and District branch of Soroptimist International for their support in further improving what we can offer.
Charlotte, a previous patient at Discovery House who is now living in her own home and employed as a peer support clinical apprentice with the Trust, said working at the café helped give her the confidence and skills to apply for jobs.
When I first came to the Vales I never had confidence in myself and didn’t think I’d ever stop self-harming to leave hospital. 10 months later, I’m now a peer support clinical apprentice at Discovery House and using the skills I learnt to support others.
Being able to leave the ward to go and work on the café gave me a real sense of purpose and I learnt so many new skills around food preparation and hygiene, as well as the confidence to interact with new people which made me feel more in control.
Patients at a Lincoln mental health rehabilitation unit are now able to be more involved in running the hospital’s on-site community café and learn new skills, thanks to a donation by the Lincoln and District branch of Soroptimist International.
The community café at Discovery House in Lincoln, run by patients and staff at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), has installed a new hatch through to the hospital’s practice kitchen; opening up more opportunities for patients to be involved in the day to day running of the café.
For patients who don’t feel confident to be in front of the house, the hatch enables them to still be involved in preparing meals without the need to be in the busy café environment. It particularly supports patients early in their recovery journey, whilst they learn new skills around food preparation and build their confidence for interacting with other people.
The improvements have been possible thanks to a generous donation by joint presidents Jasmit Phull and Jill Warren, and other members of Soroptimist International Lincoln and District who organised several fundraising events including a charity ball.
Jasmit Phull has close links to the unit where both her husband and son work as consultant psychiatrists. She said she was proud to be part of supporting people on their recovery journey and she believes mental health is just as important as physical health.
Mrs Phull said:
Soroptimist International is a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women and girls. Our network has over 75,000 club members in 122 countries who work at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls.
2018 to 2028 is our ‘decade of action’ and we were so pleased to be able to do something meaningful for local health services, which was really going to support not only the ladies receiving support at Discovery House, but all of the patients at the hospital.
Donna Bradford, who oversees the patient-led community café said:
The café is such an important part of our recovery ethos as a rehabilitation service. It provides people with an opportunity to learn new skills they can use in their own lives for food preparation, but also builds confidence in their own abilities and interacting with others.
The café is very popular with staff, patients and the local community and we pride ourselves in the role it plays in breaking down barriers surrounding mental health, as well as the positive impact it has on our patient’s recovery.
We are so grateful to Mrs Phull, Mrs Warren and all members of the Lincoln and District branch of Soroptimist International for their support in further improving what we can offer.
Charlotte, a previous patient at Discovery House who is now living in her own home and employed as a peer support clinical apprentice with the Trust, said working at the café helped give her the confidence and skills to apply for jobs.
When I first came to the Vales I never had confidence in myself and didn’t think I’d ever stop self-harming to leave hospital. 10 months later, I’m now a peer support clinical apprentice at Discovery House and using the skills I learnt to support others.
Being able to leave the ward to go and work on the café gave me a real sense of purpose and I learnt so many new skills around food preparation and hygiene, as well as the confidence to interact with new people which made me feel more in control.
