Strong staff take-up of wellbeing cabin funded by charity

The Wellbeing Cabin, the calm staff space and home to wellbeing sessions has clocked up nearly 500 hours of use in the first six months of being on-site at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford. 

Officially opened by CEO Louise Stead, members of staff from HR, Health and Well-being and our own Royal Surrey Charity team in October, the cabin has been continuously used by staff since the red ribbon was cut.

A total of 155 different booked events, training sessions and meetings have taken place between October 2021 to March 2022. This equates to 481 hours and doesn’t include the ad-hoc visits during that time.

The cabin was funded, thanks to over £108,000 worth of public donations given during the pandemic to ensure NHS frontline keyworkers were supported during a difficult time.

The new permanent building was also made possible thanks to a grant from the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 appeal and support by our charity. It is one of several well-being initiatives the charity has supported in the past year, keeping pace with the public appetite to support NHS staff.

Robin Legge, Head of Fundraising from Royal Surrey Charity, on hearing about the use so far said:

“It’s wonderful to know that the wellbeing cabin is offering fantastic benefits to our staff. More than ever, our supporters are recognising the importance of staff well-being and we’re thrilled that Royal Surrey staff are taking advantage of this tranquil setting.”

Sessions run so far include free all-staff health checks, 'Working Well' sessions such as managing stress and burnout, staff network meetings, yoga and tai-chi. Presentations and awards have also taken place there, as seen here, with members from the maternity team collecting awards earlier this year. 

The Emergency Department team have been able to set up a calendar of regular activities including their Wellbeing Wednesday sessions thanks to the cabin. This includes regular bake-off competitions!

In December more than 1,000 Royal Surrey staff visited the cabin over five days, during its transformation into a Winter Wonderland. A festive all staff thank you event (Winterfest) was hosted in the lead up to its first Christmas here.

Robyn Gennari, is Royal Surrey’s Health and Wellbeing Lead. She’s looking forward to seeing how the cabin is used this summer:

“The cabin is a light calming environment that is available for Trust wide wellbeing initiatives and bespoke team wellbeing sessions and has been well used so far. It’s a supportive space where staff can unwind, reflect and re-energise. We know there are events in the making for summer 2022, such as Wellbeing Wednesday which will be run from the cabin and hope staff can take part.”

The cabin is situated to the rear of the Education centre on site, set within a tranquil garden area offering staff an important and calm break-out space away from the wards.

Banner image: shows maternity team awards, credit A Reid.