Is it a bus or a plane? Airline volunteers to give Horsham hospital staff a first-class break

A bus is set to appear at Horsham Hospital offering support to the NHS from volunteers from the airline industry.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The Project Wingman mobile wellbeing lounge – a specially converted double decker bus, known as Wellbee – ‘landed’ at Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital on Monday, March 15, and will be on site until Sunday.

In the future it is set to visit other locations around West Sussex, including Horsham Hospital.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Staffed entirely by volunteers, who are all current or former aircrew, the lounge offers NHS staff at the hospital, which is run by Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, a comfortable, relaxing space to take their break.

The Project Wingman mobile wellbeing lounge has landed in Bognor RegisThe Project Wingman mobile wellbeing lounge has landed in Bognor Regis
The Project Wingman mobile wellbeing lounge has landed in Bognor Regis

It is open from 9.45am until 5.15pm each day, and the Project Wingman volunteers are on hand to offer a warm welcome, hot and cold drinks, snacks, digital newspapers and magazines, as well as the chance for a friendly chat.

The lounge is designed to offer an airline-style first class experience to anyone working for the NHS.

Project Wingman was started at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to enable furloughed, grounded or redundant UK airline personnel to show their support their local NHS.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The airline volunteers are all trained to communicate in stressful situations and their lounges provide a space for NHS staff to unwind and de-compress while at work.

Caroline Haynes, director of human resources and organisational development at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are so excited to have the Project Wingman mobile wellbeing lounge on site for staff to use and enjoy.

“Our teams have done amazing things throughout the pandemic, continuing to provide care to people in our local communities, so it’s lovely to be able to say thank you to them for everything that they’ve done.

“We’ve had amazing feedback from staff who have used the lounge, and they are overwhelmed by the generosity of the Project Wingman volunteers, who are giving up their time to support their local NHS.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s a brilliant initiative, providing a very different environment for staff to take a well-earned break, and on behalf of our staff, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved.”

Captain Rich Griffin, director and mobile lounge manager for Project Wingman, said: “I am incredibly proud to see Wellbee visit Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust at both Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital and Horsham Hospital. Wellbee is our first fully branded mobile wellbeing service and to see her being enjoyed by so many hospital staff is genuinely heart-warming.”

The visit was made possible thanks to Sussex Community NHS Charity, the official charity of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

Related topics: