A fundraising campaign to provide vital sensory support for children and young people with acute mental illness launches today (22 March 2024). ‘Bring light to The Beacon’ – co-ordinated by Raising Health, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust’s registered charity, is aiming to raise £25,000 to build a bespoke sensory room at The Beacon CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health) unit on Leicester’s Glenfield hospital site.

The Beacon is a 15-bed inpatient facility for children and young people experiencing acute mental health illness and eating disorders who need round-the-clock care from our specialist team. Demand for these services have increased since the Covid-19 pandemic.

 
Sensory environments enhance the recovery journey of mental health patients. The sensory room will provide much-needed comfort, calm and reassurance for young people who have complex mental health needs, autism and ADHD. It will be equipped with a bubble wall, seating, a variety of lighting and an interactive projector, plus two sensory trollies for patients who are too unwell to leave their rooms.

Clinical staff at The Beacon currently engage with service-users using a small number of sensory items and have introduced personalised self-soothe sensory boxes that include several items to engage, comfort and reassure patients when needed, such as tactile fidget toys, stress balls and Play-Doh. These boxes have had a significant impact on the recovery journey of those at The Beacon and have illustrated how valuable a dedicated sensory room will be.

Paul Howley, matron at The Beacon said: “Sensory environments are a valuable way of enhancing people’s care and recovery. For instance, one non-verbal young person felt able to open up and engage with therapy thanks largely to the use of a personal sensory box, filled with items to help them self-regulate. Sensory activities build trust with carers which can act as a springboard for recovery.

“We want to extend this level of care further by creating a sensory room for children and young people to engage with, as well as providing two sensory trolleys for those who find leaving their rooms challenging.”

So far Raising Health has raised just over £15,000 in donations from the wonderful support of our local community, trusts and businesses, including Amazon and the Anand & Sethi Family Trust.

Carolyn Pascoe, Fundraising Manager for Raising Health said: “By donating, you will be helping our young mental health inpatients with their recovery. The sensory room and the portable trolleys will have a hugely positive impact on enhancing their care. Please can you help us bring light to The Beacon?”

Follow the #BringLightToTheBeacon appeal on Raising Health’s dedicated appeal’s page: www.raisinghealth.org.uk/appeals/beaconappeal or follow @raising_health_ on Instagram, @Raising_Health_ on X and RaisingHealthUK on Facebook for updates.

How you can help Bring Light to The Beacon

  • Fundraise for us – visit our Raising Health website for fundraising ideas and to make a donation.
  • If you are a local business you can sponsor us by contacting lpt.raisinghealth@nhs.net
  • Share our appeal web page with your friends, family or colleagues.

Please visit our Bring Light to the Beacon appeal page to donate today.