Cape Town - A vibrant and revamped retail space at the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital aims to give patients a respite from the routine, and providing them, staff and visitors a place of serenity.
The Friends of Valkenberg Trust held a grand opening for the revamped retail space, the “Friendly Shop” on Monday.
The opening comes as the non-profit organisation (NPO) marks 30 years since its establishment, which emanated from an urgent need to improve the conditions of patients seeking care at the hospital.
The trust works with hospital staff for the promotion of mental health, and to support the recovery of people with serious mental illnesses.
Interior design company Rumour Has It joined the project offering pro bono services, with a number of other donors, supporters and volunteers adding their support.
The store, at the Friends of Valkenberg Trust Buildings, is stocked with pre-loved clothing, bric-a-brac and household items. The “Friendly Coffee Lounge” is staffed by in-patients of the hospital, training as baristas.
Friends of Valkenberg Trust director, Soraya Solomon, said the organisation had a number of programmes, one of which was to meet the most basic needs of a patient, such as the provision of clothing, transport money and food after their discharge.
“Because a lot of them don’t even have money to buy food to take with their medication, that’s a basic need,” Solomon said.
The skills development programme encompasses the Healing Garden, teaching people how to do organic gardening. The long-term vision for this initiative is to have patients leave
with a do-it-yourself kit to be able to grow vegetables, and perhaps sell them to generate an income. They also train patients to become baristas, with the first two in-patients trained now working at the “Friendly Coffee Lounge”.
“We have skills development in our take-out where patients learn to do food preparation, customer care, admin, how to manage money in the shop, how to do reconciliation. So we want to grow our skills development.
“This is not a space just to launch a shop. It’s a space for staff to come and really have a mental health break. So it’s going to be for staff in one section and another section for patients to come and enjoy themselves.”
The NPO welcomes the donation of items for sale at the store. “The Friendly Shop” will be open 8am to 2.30pm Monday to Friday. Profits generated from the shop, coffee lounge or take-out sustain the work of the trust.
“Families that come to visit their patient, they come from the poorest of communities. So to come here and shop is something special for them – to get an outfit to wear or buy something for their kitchen. So it’s a space I think families can also enjoy,” Solomon said.
Founding members of the Friends of Valkenberg Trust, Professor Brian Robertson and Francoise Robertson, cut the inaugural ribbon.
Robertson, previously head of the
Psychiatry Department at UCT, said: “I was at the Red Cross Hospital before and when I came here, Valkenberg was one of the hospitals I had to manage, and I was horrified at what I found.”
He said the admission wards were dormitories of 30 beds, providing no privacy for patients.
“So there were young people having their first breakdown, coming into hospital and waking up and finding themselves in this dormitory with patients doing bizarre things, wandering around. Toilets which were not closed off, and patients being abused.
“I came home one day and said, ‘we’ve got to do something’, and that’s how we started.”
The problematic wards were one of the key issues raised by parents, who were consulted about what needed to be done to improve conditions.
Robertson said: “We started with the existing wards along the river and found a lot of volunteers willing to renovate. They raised the money and renovated and made conditions more humane. Then we raised money to build an admission ward.”
They have done away with the 3-bed dormitory; the largest ward is four-bedded with smaller one-and-two bedroom wards.
Patron Francoise Robertson said the response from the Cape community was phenomenal with many helping out and some contributing years of voluntary service.
“I thought to myself, how do I do it? What do I do? I hadn’t been to Valkenberg before. I’m a nurse. So I came to have a look and I just started with a few things, getting clothes for the patients because there was very little. So we started with very basic things.”
Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital CEO, Charlyn Goliath said, “When we saw the plans on paper, this was not what was expected. I want to thank the Friends of Valkenberg. It all started with a vision, Prof Robertson your vision, which is continuing.”
She said the initiative also contributed to the hospital’s therapeutic and rehabilitation programme.
“How we reintegrate our patients back into the community is a challenge, and what this is doing is not only contributing to this process but also breaking down stigma.”
“You would not expect a place like this. You come in, you see high walls and fencing. But this is really a place where patients can come, it is part of their recovery journey. We have a big focus on wellbeing and this is contributing towards that.”
The Friendly Shop provides an opportunity for volunteering and employment as well.
Towards the end of 1997, the Provincial Health Department proposed the closure of the hospital. Through a determined campaign against this by the Trust, the department agreed to keep a downsized hospital.
Natalie Watlington, Provincial Health and Wellness Department Principal Communications Officer: Southern Western Sub-structures, said the hospital had 391 beds.
“236 beds for acute patient admission and treatment; 10 bed therapeutic program that runs over 4 weeks; 15 Forensic observation beds; and 130 beds for state patients.”
“We offer various outpatient services with varying figures, and for acute services the total for attendance per month varies from around 350 to 500 patients.”
To find out more and to support the Trust’s work, contact [email protected] or contact 021 447 2092.