Project Wingman is incredibly proud to announce the arrival of their mobile wellbeing lounge “Wellbee” at West London NHS Trust on Monday 14 June. The wellbeing bus will visit St Bernard’s Hospital, Clayponds Rehabilitation Hospital, West London NHS Trust HQ and the Lakeside Mental Health Unit to support the hardworking NHS staff.
Wellbee provides a relaxed, informal and versatile space in which to deliver the wellbeing service, manned by a team of local aircrew volunteers, reaching up to 150 frontline staff each day. The spacious bus offers plenty of room to move about with its raised upper deck roof. A fully fitted kitchen makes preparation of hot refreshments easy and there is a fabulous outside space to relax and unwind under the awning. She allows the charity to be truly accessible to all NHS staff, without the need for physical hospital space, regardless of where in the country the hospital is located.
Carolyn Regan, West London NHS Trust’s Chief Executive said: “I am delighted to be at the launch of Project Wingman’s Wellbee at St Bernard’s Hospital site, offering our staff wellbeing and mental health support. The pandemic has been a challenging period for everyone. Starting off with our launch at St Bernard’s Hospital, this is a great opportunity for staff to unwind, decompress and distress. I look forward to hearing from staff across the Trust who have taken advantage of this offer.”
Wellbee is starting at St Bernard’s Hospital from 14 – 18 June, then visiting Clayponds Rehabilitation Hospital from 19 – 21, and then on to West London NHS Trust HQ for two days from 22 – 23, until finally paying the Lakeside Mental Health Unit a visit from 24 – 27 June. Wellbee will then continue to travel the country putting NHS Staff wellbeing “on wheels”. NHS Trusts can book the bus to visit for weekly blocks and it will continue to be crewed by uniformed airline staff who are either furloughed or have recently been made redundant.
Captain Richard Griffin, Director and Mobile Lounge Manager has led a dedicated team of volunteers over several months to bring this concept to fruition – including sourcing, fundraising, designing, preparation and readiness.
Captain Griffin commented, “Wellbee is our first fully branded mobile wellbeing service and to see her being enjoyed by so many hospital staff is genuinely heart-warming. I’m excited for Wellbee to visit some of West London NHS Trust sites and for it to provide staff a place to unwind”.
At the end of 2020, in collaboration with a large number of business’ and organisations, the charity raised an incredible £25,000 to get the wheels turning. To support the delivery of the mobile lounge service, a multitude of different companies large and small have kindly donated food, drink and goods, for which the charity is incredibly humbled. For that first-class service, founding sponsors of the charity, Gold Key Media and Indoor Garden Design have between them supplied a magazine rack and reading material as well as dressing the bus and outside space with artificial plants and grass!
