Yorkshire care service triumphs with national interior design win

Beacon House, in Wibsey, is a sixteen-bed specialist residential service, supporting individuals with learning disabilities, complex needs and behaviours that may challenge.

Cygnet Social Care launched an interior design competition last year, encouraging social care services to enhance and improve their environment for the residents.

All fifty services taking part received a budget of £1,000 with an open design brief giving them the opportunity to spend the funds on anything from soft furnishings and murals, to sensory room equipment and interaction based tools.

The residents at Beacon House decided on an ‘Under the Sea’ sensory room to uplift the annex as they often visit Sea Life in Blackpool or The Deep in Hull.

Beacon House Home Manager Jeff Firth explained: “As the theme of ‘Under the Sea’ was chosen we wanted to ensure the area was as interactive as possible. An example of this came from the Beacon team who had the idea of ship wheels that residents could interact with and that would turn when attached the wall. We obtained ship wheels and Antony, our onsite maintenance colleague, got on with working out how we could make them turn.

“Residents are really enjoying their life Under the Sea at Beacon House. To find out we had been chosen as the national overall winner, the team and residents of Beacon House were triumphantly happy and celebrated.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work our maintenance, the residents and staff team put into making this project happen. However, for me the biggest prize was seeing how a person-centred environment, such as our residents’ chosen ‘Under the Sea’ sensory area, honours our residents’ identity, whilst supporting their quality of life, and wellbeing”.

Gareth Williams, CEO of Cygnet Social Care, said: “We wanted this to be seen as an opportunity for staff and residents to work together on a fun and engaging activity and to take pleasure in being creative with the space they share. Our services are residents’ homes and we want residents to put their own personal signature on their homes.”

There were regional prizes of £200 for 3rd, £250 for 2nd and £300 for 1st placed services in each region. As the overall national champion, Beacon House received an additional £500 prize money. The prizes will be used to further enhance the spaces at the services.

Gareth added: “I have been genuinely thrilled by the effort everyone has gone to in embracing this challenge. The creativity and vision the teams have shown has been truly inspirational.

“It’s been a real joy to go through all of the entries, photos, and presentations. It was almost impossible to choose our winners. The team and residents at Beacon House should be very proud of their achievements!

“It was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but this entry has everything we could have hoped for.”