Pictures taken by Kirsty Edmonds.Pictures taken by Kirsty Edmonds.
Pictures taken by Kirsty Edmonds.

Christmas fundraiser sees Northampton hospital on its way to raising £20,000 for two sensory rooms

Six hundred pounds has been raised through a Northampton hospital fundraiser, in a bid to pay for a much-needed sensory room for children with mental health needs.

Nurses at Berrywood Hospital want to turn two rarely used rooms into sensory rooms for children to use on both the Burrows and Sett wards.

The rooms will be used in different ways to suit each patient’s needs and will allow the children to self-manage stress and anxiety, in the company of their families.

Yesterday (Wednesday) saw staff, patients and their family and friends take part in a raffle, tombola and charity cake sale, in the company of the Rock Choir, to raise funds to pay for the two facilities. So far, £600 has been raised and one of the activity coordinators, Katie Trevor, said she's happy with the progress they have made so far.

She said: "It was absolutley amazing. The young people on both wards worked extremely hard for the past six weeks, and we have been making crafts to sell for the last couple of days.

"We raised £600 from the day yesterday. It is really important to have these facilities. It's somewhere for the young people to go who have heightened senses and need to take a moment to calm down."

Northamptonshire Health Foundation Trust (NHFT) - the hospital's charity - are coordinating the £20,000 campaign needed for the rooms, which will pay for a full refurbishment and equipment.

The Burrows at Berrywood Hospital supports young people aged between 13 and 18 with a range of complex mental health conditions and offers bed stays for up to 24 weeks.

Sensory spaces like this have been found to be hugely beneficial for people suffering with a wide-range of mental health conditions.

It will also cater for the increasing numbers of service-users with needs that fall outside of general mental health, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and Learning Difficulties.

Related topics: