Residents love the transformation at Brookview

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of support staff,  residents at FitzRoy Coventry service Brookview are now enjoying a fantastic new sensory room.

Brookview is home to eight people with profound learning disabilities, sensory and physical impairments. Katie Lamb, acting deputy manager, is passionate and enthusiastic about improving the experience of the residents and is very excited about the amazing difference that new developments at Brookview have made.

Katie said: “We had a room that wasn’t used, so we asked our residents what we should do with it and they decided on a sensory room. Our support workers Eileen Thornton and Vee Herdman have some great sensory knowledge and expertise, so we enlisted their help. Brookview residents were involved in all the decisions, they chose the items they wanted in the sensory room and which colour to paint the walls. Staff finished the room a few days before Christmas and the residents were over the moon when they saw the end result.“

“The room has a CD player, keyboard, soft play items as well as a snowflake projector and spotlights in different colours. Many of our residents look up a lot, so we have put lots of lovely visuals on the ceiling for them to enjoy. We have really noticed the difference with the people we support. They are engaging a lot more with staff and each other and are so much more relaxed. It has also made things easier for staff as we have a great place for relaxed interaction with the people we support. Fiona is 37 and loves music, she loves it in the sensory room so much that it can be difficult to get her out of there to eat her meals. She loves to relax and just engage her senses.

“I love my job, as you really see the benefit of all the work you put in. Building a rapport with the people we support, getting to know them, helping them develop their social skills and seeing the difference my input has made keeps me enthusiastic.”

Brookview and Hipswell Highway Service manager Jayne Norton said: “A huge thank you to all staff, especially Eileen and Vee, for their hard work in turning Brookview’s sensory room into such a relaxed, comfortable environment for our residents to enjoy. The room has made so much difference to the people we support, we are now looking at an area in Hipswell Highway where we can do something similar.”