Keeping Active at Cygnet Sherwood House

The team at Cygnet Sherwood House are working hard to keep service users as active as possible during the current restrictions implemented by the government. Activities in the last week have included bingo, pool tournaments, a gardening group, art sessions and gym sessions.

Cygnet Sherwood House, near Mansfield, is an ‘Outstanding’ rated high dependency inpatient rehabilitation service for men. Service users are usually able to enjoy a weekly walk to the local shops but as this has had to be stopped the team have converted the Occupational Therapy Office into the Rainbow Tuck Shop.

Open Monday to Friday for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon, the Rainbow Tuck Shop is somewhere service users can purchase pop, smoothies, crisps, sweets and chocolate bars. The feedback has been very positive since it opened with service users commenting that they are pleased with the variety of items and it makes not going to the shops as bad.

A number of competitions, including board games, pool tournaments and bingo, have also provided service users the opportunity to win vouchers that they can spent at the tuck shop.

Other activities have included art sessions where staff and service users have coloured and painted Rainbows to support the NHS. Together they have also joined in the weekly #clapforourcarers at 8pm on a Thursday to show their appreciation for the key workers.

Staff have also begun a gardening group to offer the men meaningful activity to fulfill their time and to enable them to start growing vegetables and herbs. This group will continue to run after the Coronavirus outbreak has ended as the service users engaging in this have spoken about how much they have enjoyed the group and being outside.

Some support staff have also brought in fitness DVD’s and have been doing these alongside the service users as well as providing regular gym sessions in order to maintain everyone’s fitness.

There has also been a regular hot and cold drinks trolleys service in the lounge. Daily papers are also provided so that staff and service users can discuss what is happening and keep up to date with the latest events. Information boards have also been put up to keep service users up-to-date and aware of the plans in place at the service during this time.

Finally, whilst everyone at Cygnet Sherwood House is following the government guidelines and adhering to the rules, there is a contingency plan in place for anyone who does not!

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