Rampton Hospital patient led project wins national award

The LGBTQ+ Folk and Friends project at Rampton Hospital won the Celebrating Diversity Award category.

The project was started to raise awareness and share a personal story in a fun light-hearted way but with an educational spin and important message. It is based on a well-known children's collection of books but with an original twist.

Becky Sutton, Chief Operating Officer said: “Huge congratulations to the service user and colleagues at Rampton Hospital who have been involved in this fantastic project. Colleagues are committed to providing the best possible care, and working with our patient on this fantastic project is just one example of how they do such brilliant work supporting patients to achieve their goals. The service user has worked so hard and done an incredible job to raise awareness in a fun and creative way.”

The patient is now in in the process of writing and illustrating a short book which can then be animated and brought to life in a short educational video.

The patient said: “I know from my own personal transitioning journey that I would have been grateful to have the awareness, support and visibility around LGBTQ+. If I could make at least one person feel comfortable in being able to be themselves, it would bring hope for many giving us a united future.”

The Hearing Voices Support Group at Rampton Hospital and The Celebrating 75 years of Windrush Anniversary project at Arnold Lodge were also shortlisted.