Patients ride hundreds of miles
MEN receiving care on a specialist adult mental health ward teamed up with ward staff to tackle a mammoth 582-mile sponsored bike ride.
And they didn’t have to set a foot outside
The patients on Phoenix ward, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust’s low-secure male forensic ward, based at Glenfield Hospital, came up with the idea of cycling the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats using an exercise bike.
The ride is one of a series of fund-raising events they have devised with staff on the ward, at Herschel Prins Centre.
The cycle challenge kicked off on April 2 with individuals doing their bit to clock up the miles whenever they were able, and the distances logged on a giant wall poster.
Over the course of nine days they exceeded their target distance, completing a total of 584 miles.
Occupational therapist Alice Burnell, who helped to organise the fund-raising programme, said: “We provide a range of recovery-focused therapeutic activities on the ward but, because of the nature of their mental illness, many of our patients don’t get leave from the ward.
“They enjoy movie nights on the ward and told us they wanted to raise funds for a TV screen and games system so we all got together to come up with suggestions for raising the £1,200 needed.
“Everyone liked the suggestion of a sponsored bike ride and this is also a good way for them to get exercise too.”
Fund raising continued and last week a bake sale on the main Glenfield Hospital site which raised £332.
Later this summer patients will be writing and staging a drama production for friends, family and staff, to boost the total further.
The men will have the opportunity to take part in a series of performance workshops with Leicester’s Kirsty Munro this summer, culminating in two performances in July – one for staff and one for family.
Plans are also in hand to follow this up with a garden party at the unit.
Donations can be made online via a dedicated Just Giving fundraising page called Phoenix Fundraiser, as part of the Trust’s Raising Health charity.