7 November 2023
Young people who are cared for by our Easington child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) at Winchester House, Peterlee, have added a fresh look to the building.
The CAMHS Easington participation group, made up of young people, gives them the opportunity to have an input into the services they access.
The group decided they would like to decorate the building to make it more inviting to young people. They said: “We all thought the building was a bit boring and changing the look of the waiting area seems like a small thing, but we’d rather have something cool to look at!”
They began fundraising for the redecoration, they collected gifts and received kind donations from a local ASDA store. A raffle was held at their NHS garden party in the summer, and they raised an amazing £250.
Newcastle based graffiti artist, Arron Sheils, was asked to create the mural and was keen to help as mental health is close to his heart.
He initially created some designs; the group chose their favourite, added some other ideas and the final design was agreed.
“Thank you for trusting me and letting me produce the artwork for your building,” said Arron, who wanted to share his appreciation to the children and young people.
“It’s made the building look cooler and less boring” and “It looks really good! It goes along the whole wall; I didn’t think it was going to be that big!” said the young people who receive treatment and care from our CAMHS service.
The group are collecting more ideas to consider how they can make the building even more inviting and a ‘cooler’ place for them to visit. Other areas in the building are also now being considered for graffiti artwork.
