Thanks to your support and the hard work of our volunteers, we were proud to support a gaming equipment donation to the Lavender Walk Adolescent Unit in Chelsea.

Lavender Walk is a specialist inpatient mental health unit for young people aged 13 to 18. The unit supports young people with severe and complex mental health needs who require a period of inpatient care, with a multidisciplinary team including nurses, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, family therapists, social workers, teachers and art therapists.

For young people and their families, being admitted to an inpatient mental health unit can be stressful. Finding positive, engaging activities that can support young people to spend their time, build relationships and feel more comfortable in the environment may help improve the experience.

Gaming the Mind has been rolling out our “Consoles for Wards” project, helping to promote how gaming can be a helpful and therapeutic activity during difficult times in hospital.

The team at Lavender Walk told us how the donation has already been making a difference:

“Setting everything up was made incredibly easy thanks to the support from Gaming the Mind. The addition of extra controllers and new games—especially Mario Kart 8 Deluxe—has significantly boosted engagement among the young people here at Lavender Walk.

“It has helped the young people interact with each other in a positive and supportive way, strengthening peer relationships through shared play. It has also allowed staff to join in the gameplay, helping young people see staff in a more relaxed, fun, and approachable way.

“Games like Minecraft have been especially valuable. They’ve enabled some young people to express their creativity, while others who struggle with pacing or remaining settled have been able to focus on the activity for extended periods. The young people and staff at Lavender Walk want to say a big thank you to Gaming the Mind!”

It’s particularly encouraging to hear how the equipment is being used in different ways by different young people. We encourage wards to implement a Quality Improvement Project framework, involving team members and service users in identifying what they might find beneficial. This helps ensure that equipment donations can be used meaningfully within each individual service.

Thank you to everyone who supports Gaming the Mind and makes projects like this possible. We hope to continue supporting the team at Lavender Walk and other inpatient services, and encourage teams who think gaming could benefit the people they support to get in touch with us.