A DRUMMER has set up a group within a Southall hospital to help people with mental health problems.
Kwabena Mehutusekamen, a community drum artist, volunteered to set up a drumming group in 2008 in the John Conolly wing at St Bernards Hospital, Uxbridge Road, Southall.
Kwabena, who won the West London Mental Health NHS Trust's Volunteer of the Year quality award, was nominated by the Trust's communications manager Charlene Stephenson for our award.
She said: "Since becoming a volunteer in February 2008, Kwabena has shown remarkable and dependable dedication to setting up and establishing the John Conolly Wing Inpatient Drumming Group.
"What started out as a weekly session on a pilot project has grown to become a fully funded group that meets two evenings a week. Kwabena's willingness and selflessness in volunteering his services in the first place has been a crucial factor in enabling us to get this important group off the ground in the first place.
"Kwabena brings a wealth of experience to this group not only in the specific drumming techniques which he can pass on, but also through his spiritual and cultural connections that define the meaning of drumming for him. Alongside this, his ever increasing understanding and awareness of the acute inpatient setting enables him to engage and interact with inpatients with great sensitivity and awareness at all times."
Kwabena was surprised at being nominated and delighted that he had made such a positive impact on patients.
