Name for mental health facility to be revealed in New Year

A name for the new £42m mental health facility at Kingsley Green will be unveiled shortly after the New Year, My Radlett & Shenley News can reveal.   Last month the Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust ran a competition for local residents to suggest names for the new institute, as well for its café and five wards all still under construction.   More than 140 people contacted the Trust with their suggestions for the new mental health facility, with shortlisted entries due to be included in a prize draw. Final names for the site are expected to be announced in early January.   Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman Jessamy Kinghorn told My Radlett & Shenley News that reaction to the competition had been “fantastic”.   She said: “The facility at Kingsley Green will be a flagship building for mental health inpatient services in England and we’re delighted so many people have got involved with naming the building and its units.”   She added: “The next stage will be for a panel made up primarily of service users and carers, but also including frontline clinical staff, to discuss the suggestions and produce a shortlist which will be presented to the Trust Board and Council of Governors.  It is very important to us that we continue to involve service users and carers in selecting the names.”   Artist Nicky Hirst has also appealed for the help of local residents again, this time for contributions for a book which will be given to people staying in inpatient mental health facilities. The book will be launched at the Kingsley Green facility when it opens next summer.   Nicky is looking for objects that are special to their owners and evoke memories of a certain time in their lives, like a piece of jewellery from a loved one or a childhood toy.   She said: “I want the book to convey a sense of familiarity and stability to people who may be going through a difficult time, and I hope the book will give them a sense of calm and evoke their own memories”.   For more information or to send a photo of an item, along with a description of no more than 100 words, email Nicky at studio@nickyhirst.co.uk by Friday November 29