St Mary’s, an Elysium Mental Health hospital, recently hosted a Sustainability Day as part of the wider rollout of the organisation’s sustainability plan across Elysium sites in the Northwest. Led by Jamie Devine, Activities Coordinator and Sustainability Lead at Victoria Gardens, the plan aims to embed practical, meaningful, and patient‑centred sustainable practices across every service, including the introduction of recycling initiatives and reducing food waste.
The event brought together staff and service users for a drop‑in day filled with hands‑on activities designed to bring people together and encourage environmentally friendly habits. Attendees took part in seed planting, vegan food tasting, a recycling‑focused “bin challenge,” a sustainability quiz, and a creative tote bag‑for‑life design station. Throughout the day, presentations explored topics such as food waste, recycling, and the benefits of green space.
One patient, P, shared that the bag‑designing activity had “given me some positivity today,” capturing the spirit of the event, where sustainability and wellbeing go hand in hand.
Sustainability efforts at St Mary’s are championed by support worker Olayinka Olaniyi, who brings over 15 years of experience in environmental and sustainability projects. Under Olayinka’s leadership, the service has made some of the most rapid progress in embedding new sustainable practices over the past year.
As part of the overall sustainability rollout, Jamie Devine is supporting each site through monthly governance meetings and a structured introduction to core sustainability priorities. These include establishing effective recycling processes with clear signage, reducing single‑use plastics where safe to do so, developing green and blue initiatives for both staff and service users, and creating site‑specific five‑year green plans. A key foundation of this work is building a sustainability team with representatives from every ward and department, ensuring sustainability becomes a shared and long‑term commitment.
St Mary’s Sustainability Day showcased the enthusiasm, creativity and collaboration already driving change at the service. It marked another step forward in making sustainable, patient‑friendly practices part of everyday life.
