Inspirational Quotes Windows Installed at Kings House Accommodation Service

Together’s Kings House is a 24 hour residential accommodation service for individuals experiencing complex mental health issues in Bournemouth in Dorset. They recently undertook a project to feature inspirational quotes in the property as suggested by the residents. Relief Support Worker, Joanna Szukala who works at Kings House, explains the project below and how they worked alongside people using the service:

People who use Together’s Kings House Accommodation Service live with mental health issues such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and feelings of fear or self-doubt. Living with these issues means they can become overwhelmed by a variety of stressors and experiences. They are supported each day to deal with such all sorts of circumstances in a constructive manner. Within that support learning from other people’s experiences as well as sharing views and ideas are very much the basis of service user leadership.

Through this process of speaking with the residents, the idea of creating posters to feature in the sun lounge came up as that is where many service users enjoy spending their time. Inspirational quotes can have a positive influence over a person’s life, so we thought, why not put those on display? After all, what we see every day, tends to affect us the most. Words are known to have an incredible power to inspire and change a person’s mood or even their outlook on life. Especially in challenging situations or times that everyone needs to face, words can make a difference in how a person responds to such events.

If someone finds a particular saying or phrase resonates with them and helps them through a dark moment, they often consider these words priceless. Indeed, people get certain expressions tattooed on their bodies as a constant reminder of the meaning behind them! Well, at Kings House we decided not to go as far, but still use the power or words to support people in making their day a little brighter and more creative. When service users found out about the idea of creating posters with their favourite inspirational quotes, many were curious and excited about the project. They said it would be fascinating to see quotes that they each value and for those to be shared with each other.

Quite a few individuals asked if they could have some time in order to choose a message that best represented who they are or their outlook on life. Even when a resident couldn’t think of a particular saying that they loved, just approaching that idea still led them to have many interesting discussions. Individuals used this opportunity to reminisce about their past experiences and happy times in their lives. It also gave them a chance to consider why they find certain expressions valuable.

Simple words of wisdom, such as “Courage for your convictions” or “Seize the day” helped service users at Kings House to cope with negative events and inspired them to keep trying to work through challenging circumstances. Another unique quote picked by a service user was “I’ve had a wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it” by G. Marx, no doubt leaving people intrigued by the significance of it.

While discussing the project, people said that they were really looking forward to seeing the end results and learning which quotes others decided to share. One individual expressed hope that their favourite quote can bring some joy to others and would make them stop and think about the meaning behind the words. Finally, the time for the big reveal arrived and everyone at Kings House could have that little bit of sunshine and inspiration to brighten the day. As Jeffery Deaver said “It’s a tough life, and It’s the little things that get us through the day.”