Volunteers are appealing for more helpers and donations to expand a project that provides free clothes for people receiving mental health inpatient care.
Roots of Hope community interest company recently set up a weekly pop-up shop and crisis boxes of clothes for patients admitted to Chelmsford wards run by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT).
The shop is held every Friday from 10am to 2pm at The Crystal Centre in Chelmsford.
Patients from the Crystal Centre and the Trust’s other mental health wards nearby can choose from new and second-hand clothes for free. Staff can buy clothes for a donation and the money raised is used to buy new underwear for patients.
Charlotte Spooner, who founded Roots of Hope with colleague Amanda Crossley, said the shop is already making a difference: “We’re in our second week now and it’s just been so lovely. Patients can come off the ward with staff, have a chat with us, and browse.
“There is still a great need for clothes – some people have hardly anything.
“The shop gives people boost. We’re hearing from patients about how it’s brightened up their day, that they were feeling really sad and now they’re feeling really happy, positive and hopeful.”
Charlotte first started collecting second-hand clothes for patients two years ago when she was a Peer Worker at EPUT. Peer Workers are staff who use their own experience of mental health challenges to support patients and ensure their needs are met.
Some patients had very little clothing because they couldn’t afford them or didn’t know anyone who could bring them some from home.
She and Amanda set up Roots of Hope last year so they could apply for external funding to expand the project. The non-profit organisation has a small team of volunteers, and needs more help to run the shop, and donations to buy new underwear for patients.
Andy Martin is one of their new volunteers and said it was “phenomenal” helping out on the shop’s first day on 16 October.
He said: “It’s just such an amazing thing to do for people who don’t have much and it gives them hope.
“You really feel like you’re doing some good and putting back into the community.”
Roots of Hope are looking for volunteers to help run the shop, and always welcome financial donations and donations of good quality clothes and new underwear.
They are especially in need of leggings, T-shirts, pyjamas, slippers, slip-on shoes, coats, hooded tops, men’s jogging bottoms, and men’s shirts and tops.
Visit the Roots of Hope Linkt.ree page to find out more about Roots of Hope. A fundraising page has also been set up for anyone who would like to make a donation.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering opportunities at EPUT can email [email protected]
About EPUT:
- EPUT has a vision to be the leading health and wellbeing service in the provision of mental health and community care: Who we are – Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
- EPUT provides services to more than 100,000 patients at any one time and our staff are focused on providing high quality care in often complex situations.
- The organisation has invested in inpatient facilities and community services to make them safer and more therapeutic. We have extensively invested in technology to keep patients safer, enhanced training, and are continuously working with our staff, patients, their families and carers to use learning and best practice to enhance our quality of care.
- While there is more to do, the Trust has made significant progress through innovation:
- Our 111 mental health crisis phone line ensures people in need can access support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- People with lived experience have been employed in designated roles across the Trust, ensuring patient voice is heart of the organisation and all that we do.
- A number of new initiatives have been launched, helping people access the support they need when they need it most. These include a mental health urgent care department, By Your Side maternal mental health service, Rough Sleeper team, mental health crisis ambulance cars, virtual wards and neuromodulation service.
- EPUT was formed on 1 April 2017 and provides community health, mental health and learning disability services across Essex, Luton and Bedfordshire and Suffolk. We employ more than 7,200 staff working across more than 200 sites.
- To read more about our priorities and commitments to deliver the highest quality and safest care possible, visit https://eput.nhs.uk/about-us/2023-2028-strategic-plan/