BBC show throws spotlight on art project at mental health hospital
A project to bring world-class art to mental health wards was featured on BBC's The One Show yesterday (29 Sep).
Presenter and singer Ian (H) Watkins visited Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust's (NSFT) new Rivers Centre at Hellesdon Hospital with a film crew in the spring.
The show featured the art project led by Hospital Rooms, which has seen original work installed in communal and family areas of three wards and in the grounds.
Ian spoke about his lifelong love of art and how it affected his own mental wellbeing and talked to artists, NSFT staff and Hospital Rooms leaders about the project, including Holly who chatted about volunteering at the workshops.
New artwork by Dolly Sen was installed on the day. She said art had saved her many times. I know there is a profound connection between art and personal transformation. Art, for me, is the map back to yourself when you are feeling lost. It has helped me navigate the challenges of my life. I think every place needs art, especially mental health hospitals. Thanks to Hospital Rooms, we were able to collaboratively create art to show our shared humanity. There are very few opportunities that can do that, she said.
Other artworks in the grounds of the Rivers Centre were unveiled for the first time during filming.
NSFT's Locality medical director for central Norfolk Dr Daniel Dalton is featured in the programme highlighting how art helps people's mental health to recover. Good environments speed that recovery along, so this is a really important step to providing great care, he said.
The key to making this service into a place where people can recover and find hope is that the environment supports that journey of hope. The art that we have here has been made jointly by professional artists and people who use our services, meaning it is a real reflection of the healing partnership in our hospital.
Caroline Donovan, chief executive officer at NSFT, was delighted that the Rivers Centre and the Hospital Rooms project was getting national coverage. We are very proud of our new wards and the amazing artwork which Hospital Rooms has delivered through its project which has involved service users, carers, families and staff. It's incredible to see this collaborative work come to fruition.
Sophie Bagge, lived experience lead for the inpatient programme, said: I am hopeful the One Show filming will not only highlight the tremendous Hospital Rooms charity, and the work completed in the Rivers Centre, but will also de-stigmatise mental illness by giving people an opportunity to see that mental health hospitals can be welcoming, spacious and incorporate creativity. A huge thanks to our experts by experience and clinical staff who have worked so hard on this project and were involved in the filming.
We are incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Hospital Rooms over the past two years in transforming the Rivers Centre with art. The final installations create connection, conversation, reflection, intrigue and most importantly hope. I have heard many conversations about what our community should call the wonderful leaping frog at the entrance to the site and this piece has become one of my personal favourites.
Tim A Shaw, co-founder of Hospital Rooms, said the project had been a labour of love for those who had been involved and the feature on The One Show would bring new attention.
We're grateful for the opportunity to share these artworks and experiences with such a large national audience.
"There have been so many people who are passionate about bringing change to inpatient mental health units, and wanting to challenge what a clinical ward can look and feel like, who have contributed to this exciting project that has culminated in 15 extraordinary artworks for The Rivers Centre.
We are as proud of the collaborative process and the legacy of the project as we are the beautiful and thought-provoking artworks created, and hope that the art now installed will bring some joy and peace to people who use the services over the coming years.
Watch it here: The One Show - 29/09/2025 - BBC iPlayer (13 mins 46 seconds).