The Brief
Over two months of the previous summer, I spent most days up at my local hospital visiting my Grandpa who had been admitted. Visiting hours were between three and four in the afternoon and seven and eight in the evening. My Grandpa never felt that this was long enough as the days would drag with boredom and when we were in seeing him, the hour would fly past too quickly. He found the wards very clinical and uninspiring, leading to a lot of boredom that only so much reading and crosswords could eliminate.
Around Britain there are thousands of patients like him sat in their beds within a ward bored out of their minds. I want to tackle this problem by creating an independent facility out with the hospital for long-term patients to visit and escape from their clinical wards. There will be activities and new environments to help motivate and make their time in hospital more enjoyable, helping them relate to normality and making them feel that little bit of home-from-home.
The centre will be located in the old Asylum for the Blind building that is situated next to the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. Many blind people from all over the area originally occupied the building during the Victorian era. They would live in the centre, learning skills that would allow them to make objects like brooms that would be sold in the shop on the ground floor to help fund the centre. Getting donations from local, rich businessmen brought in the rest of the funding for the centre. I want to continue a similar concept to keep it separate to the main hospital, with its own funding raised by the public contributing with fundraising and through the café and other activities that will take place within the centre. I have been looking at the Maggie’s Centres for this concept as they are funded in a similar way. Over the years my Mum has taken part in a fair bit of fundraising for them, walking the 10k night walk around London last year and walking part of The Great Wall of China a few years back to name a couple.
Around Britain there are thousands of patients like him sat in their beds within a ward bored out of their minds. I want to tackle this problem by creating an independent facility out with the hospital for long-term patients to visit and escape from their clinical wards. There will be activities and new environments to help motivate and make their time in hospital more enjoyable, helping them relate to normality and making them feel that little bit of home-from-home.
The centre will be located in the old Asylum for the Blind building that is situated next to the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. Many blind people from all over the area originally occupied the building during the Victorian era. They would live in the centre, learning skills that would allow them to make objects like brooms that would be sold in the shop on the ground floor to help fund the centre. Getting donations from local, rich businessmen brought in the rest of the funding for the centre. I want to continue a similar concept to keep it separate to the main hospital, with its own funding raised by the public contributing with fundraising and through the café and other activities that will take place within the centre. I have been looking at the Maggie’s Centres for this concept as they are funded in a similar way. Over the years my Mum has taken part in a fair bit of fundraising for them, walking the 10k night walk around London last year and walking part of The Great Wall of China a few years back to name a couple.