Our staff at Woodland Grove share stories of kindness for Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from 18^th-24^th May 2020. It is the UK’s national week to raise awareness of mental health and mental health problems, inspiring action to promote the message of good mental health for all.

This year’s theme focuses on the topic of kindness #KindnessMatters. We have seen all over the world that kindness is prevailing in these unprecedented times and that amid the fear, there is also community, support and hope.

To take part in this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, we asked some of our staff at Woodland Grove Care Home in Loughton, Essex to share stories of kindness on how they have been keeping up with their mental health during this uncertain time.

Feel Good Friday

To celebrate this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we presented our carers with gifts for a ‘Feel Good Friday’. Along with the treats they were given a bag of goodies to encourage them to look after themselves just as they have been looking after all of our residents.

One of nurses at Woodland Grove, Steph said, “it’s more important than ever to support one another due to the current situation. People are suffering mentally for many reasons, job loss, boredom, lack of family contact and many more. So, we must remember to be kind and supportive”.

Along with the gesture, Woodland Grove’s well-being lead Hazel has been contacting all of the staff who are off work due to being high risk at this time and checking they’re all coping well and doing okay.

Acts of Kindness

Woodland Grove have been subject to various acts of kindness in the past few weeks including friends and families of residents to the local community.

Staff have received complimentary pizzas from Domino’s which has kept the staff energised during these difficult times. Our local barbeque restaurant Sheesh Chigwell have also been generous enough to deliver boxes full of food on more than one occasion. Lifestyles Assistant Kiera Helsey said, “This was so appreciated by all of our staff, many of whom work 12.5-hour shifts. Such a lovely gesture!”

Staff also received a gift of Easter Eggs from a local member of the public. A lovely gentleman donated 36 Easter Eggs, which happened to be the exact number of staff in the care home. Kiera continued, “It’s wonderful to see the community’s appreciation for all of the work our staff are doing here. We can’t even tell you how appreciated this random act of kindness was, so if you see this, thank you!”

Sainsbury’s Deben and Flamingo Paperie donated 3D paper craft kits for our residents as well as flowers. Kiera added, “It’s so lovely to see people in the community doing their best to help at this difficult time, and the flowers certainly helped to put a smile on our faces, as well as the craft kits will be keeping us all busy!”

Find out more about Woodland Grove Care Home.