On 12th February, Rachel Willett, SPV Manager for the IMLโmanaged Blackshaw Health Services project, was joined on site by Investment Director Mark Knight at the ๐๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น to jointly unveil three mental health awareness benches.
These benches, located in a ground floor courtyard, on the 2nd Floor Neuro ICU balcony, and the 3rd Floor Stroke Ward balcony, have been supported by Alba Infra Partners, in conjunction with Bellrock FM, and procured through the charity ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต.
Legend on the Bench was founded by former Spurs and Chelsea midfielder Micky Hazard and his sister Michelle, following the tragic loss of Michelleโs son Jay. Their aim, through the installation of these benches, is to raise awareness and reduce the number of lives lost each year due to mental health challenges. In just two years, the charity has funded and installed 90 benches, with the installations at St Georgeโs becoming numbers 91, 92 and 93.
The benches feature solar-powered lighting to illuminate them at night, along with plaques providing details of specialist mental health support charities and a QR code linking to Legend on the Bench. Their message is a simple but powerful one: โ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ผ๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐.โ
Having learned about the initiative from another PFI hospital, Rachel worked closely with charity patron Paul Carrington on these installations, and was delighted to welcome him and his wife Alison to the unveiling.
Also present at the event were colleagues from St Georgeโs University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bellrock FM, whose support and involvement were greatly appreciated. Attendees included Jenni Doman, Deputy Group Officer for Facilities, Infrastructure and Environment; Phil Robinson, Trust Facilities Manager; Natalie OโDonnell, Trust Finance Manager; Tim Abraham, Bellrock FM Contract Manager; Mark Earls, Bellrock Critical Engineering Contract Manager; Jack Coolahan, Bellrock Critical Engineering Operations Manager; and Lesley Sutton, Trust Capital Works Manager.
The two balcony benches were unveiled by Gilbert, Senior Staff Nurse for McKissock Ward (Neuro ICU), and Emma and Denymol, Senior Staff Nurses for the Acute Stroke Unit, accompanied by Healthcare Assistant Bamah. Collectively, they bring over 50 years of dedicated service to the Trust.
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ, ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
