30 September 2025
A hospital charity shop has been honoured for creating a welcoming community space where mental health patients can build skills and confidence.
‘Borrow and Buy’, at Roseberry Park in Middlesbrough has won the Community and Collaboration Award at this year’s National Lived Experience Awards.
It was honoured for providing hands-on retail experience and job roles, while helping to build skills and confidence and creating a welcoming and supportive community space for our patients.
Our Ridgeway patients and recovery, engagement and co-creation team, recognised that patients arriving from prison often had no extra clothes, faced financial hardship and couldn’t afford essentials.
They came up with a solution to restore dignity for those patients, as well as promoting recovery, and opened the innovative on-site charity shop, ‘Borrow and Buy’.
Ran by patients for patients, they were involved in every stage of development, from sourcing stock to establishing procedures and setting affordable essentials to be priced under £5.
Starter packages were created, so those in urgent need had clothing and necessities to help them settle in and relieve some of the additional stressors to help promote recovery.
The shop also provides vocational training where patients take on roles in customer service, stock control, and accounting, gaining valuable skills and routines that can be taken into the community.
A lending library of CDs, DVDs, books, and games is in place, so everyone can benefit from the space.
Any proceeds from the sale of items are reinvested into Ridgeway’s internal charity that supports recovery-focused activities, events, and peer-led groups.
Borrow and Buy is a shining example of what happens when people come together with compassion, creativity, and a shared commitment to recovery. With just a little support from staff, our patients have built a vibrant social space that’s not only thriving, but inspiring others every step of the way.
David Banks, senior recovery and co-creation lead
The National Lived Experience Awards celebrate patient led initiatives in mental health, learning disability and autism services nationwide. This year the awards ceremony was held at Colwick Hall in Nottingham.
