Festival atmosphere at Newton Lodge
During a summer of washout festivals, the Trust’s own Lodgefest didn’t see a drop of rain all day.
Held in Newton Lodge’s brand-new £4.8m activity hall, Lodgefest 2012 brought together staff and service users for a day of games, activities and delicious food.
The morning saw teams take part in the popular football tournament, with more than 20 people turning up to play. In the afternoon, patients were invited to enjoy a huge range of games and activities, followed by curry and a barbeque at the end of a packed day.
Trevor Jones, senior clinical practitioner at Newton Lodge, was pleased to see Lodgefest back for a second year and believes it has a bigger role to play than simply enjoyment:
“Lodgefest 2012 was a real success. The staff aim to provide a wide range of activities for patients and it’s not like any other day. Staff and service users play football and tug-of-war together and the aim is for everyone to have a bit of fun and help to break down barriers within the unit.
“Lodgefest is excellent at bringing people together and encouraging social interaction – this year the football tournament included representation from every ward in Newton Lodge.
“I think the more relaxed nature of Lodgefest also makes it a therapeutic day for patients – it’s certainly the most talked-about event of the year.”
Activities at this year’s Lodgefest included:
- football tournament, with games for men, women and people with learning disabilities
- tug-of-war
- name the country from its flag
- treasure hunt
- games based on TV show ‘The Cube’
- creative writing group
- karaoke
- tombola
- face painting
- sumo wrestling
- ‘fastest lap’ on Xbox Grand Prix game
- Beauty Box – beauty treatments on offer, thanks to a talented patient
- henna tattoos
- curry and barbeque at the end.