After many months in the making, this January celebrated the official opening of a new sensory relaxation room at Oxford Head Injury Services, funded by Didcot charity Play2Give.
The sensory room, called Andy’s Room within the rehabilitation centre in Kennington, brings a much-needed space for service users to relax and get away from the noise and bustle of the lively group setting, for some rest if they feel overloaded or tired, for interactivity and immersive entertainment or for mindfulness and quiet activities from scrabble to word searching or just for enjoying the sounds and lights.
Andy’s Room offers a calm, comforting and joyful space. It provides a safe environment where individuals can regulate sensory elements such as light and sound, reduce overstimulation and anxiety, and re-engage with their surroundings at a pace that feels right for them.
The brand new sensory space was funded by more than £5,000 from Play2Give, who raised the funds through a range of events including gala balls and football tournaments and fundraising activities from raffles to tombolas. Andy Baker, from Didcot and who attends the vibrant activity and rehabilitation centre twice a week, set up Play2Give to continue the fundraising he began as a teenager in 2003 for Oxford Children’s Hospital, and has been attending the brain injury centre for almost 14 years. As a thank you and tribute to his organisation’s incredible fundraising of over £35,000 raised to date, Oxford Head Injury Services is delighted to dedicate this very special space named in honour of Andy.
With a lot of hard work and planning, and the idea to transform a former dull and drab space into a room full of purpose and tranquility to the senses, we are delighted to see this vision become a reality.
The room, with walls painted in sage green chosen by Andy as the first step to the makeover process, has transformed what was previously a tired and uninspiring room into an oasis of calm, comfort, colour and interactivity, with a welcoming atmosphere inside designed and accessible for all including service users in wheelchairs and limited mobility. The room includes vibrant and immersive liquid floor tiles, bubble tubes and LED stools and lamps, faux plants for a sense of calm and greenery, projector with lights and relaxing sounds, tactile items and fidget toys, sounds for the senses, diffusers with an aroma of calming smells to meditate the mind, soft and comfortable sofa and chairs, a collection of musical and percussion instruments and walls adorned with artwork including a couple of Andy’s very own favourite paintings. The room will also offer speech therapy, yoga, music therapy and one to one consultations and counselling.
We were delighted that Andy, who was joined by his mum and nephews for the proud moment, officially cut the ribbon on Thursday, January 29 to mark Andy’s Room open joined by members of his charity team, OHIS staff, volunteers and service users together with dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Mayor of Didcot and the Chair of Oxfordshire County Council alongside our friends BBC Oxfordshire who came to film and record the occasion. Guests all enjoyed a specially made cake and fizz as part of the celebrations.
CEO of Oxford Head Injury Services, Michelle Koukoullis, said: “Seeing Andy’s vision come to life has been incredibly moving. As CEO, I’m proud of what this represents: collaboration, compassion and a deep understanding of the needs of people living with a brain injury. Andy’s Room will be a lasting legacy of kindness, and we are so thankful to everyone who helped make it possible.”
Andy, who was hugely involved in bringing the vision and needs of the room together driven by his own experience and his thoughts of what the space should include, said: “To raise so much money for a place so close to my heart is really special, and it’s even more special to have funded such an amazing new area for the brain injury centre that has changed, shaped and transformed my life and a space that is really going to make such a therapeutic difference to adults like myself with brain injuries, for a lifetime. Oxford Head Injury Services has been there for me, and my mum, and so fundraising for such an incredibly important resource that’s like a second home is my way of saying thank you and helping others facing similar circumstances. The support from my team and the community is truly special and opening this room named after me is one of the proudest moments, and one of the many greatest achievements in Play2Give’s history”
Andy added: “We would like to thank everybody who has been involved and contributed to Play2Give funds to help make this project for a place so close to my heart possible. Your generosity is really appreciated to help us bring an amazing space to life and to give hope for the future to brain injury warriors like me. I am overwhelmed with the end result – the months of seeing the room transform into such an amazing space has been really rewarding and it’s a room that I feel really proud of, and that will live on forever thanks to my incredible charity.”
Matilda Badham, marketing and communications manager at Oxford Head Injury Services, said: “Andy’s dedication, compassion and unwavering commitment to making a difference to others, particularly through organisations that have supported him on his own recovery journey is inspiring. He has turned his experiences into a powerful force for kindness that will be felt across many communities for years to come.
“Andy has been a valued part of our community for many years. Naming the room after Andy felt like the most fitting way to recognise his generous donation and the impact he has at Oxford Head Injury Services. We are enormously grateful to Play2Give.”
We have set up a separate appeal online, for ‘Andy’s Room’, which is open to donations to fund ongoing extras and equipment and hopefully to fund music therapy sessions as an ongoing fund over the coming years. If you wish to donate to Andy’s Room, you can do so through the dedicated ‘Andy’s Room Fund’ page, click here or of course general donations to Play2Give as a charity more broadly as always is also warmly appreciated and goes a long way to making a difference to our work and mission in supporting our community.