Since 2017 our Community Team have worked in partnership with the Chichester Centre, a low-secure hospital for adults receiving treatment for mental health difficulties. What started as a one-off series of sessions has developed into a core part of our weekly programme.

We've been working with Occupational Therapists from the Centre, facilitating activities with a focus on belonging and coming together; something that at times can be hard to achieve in a hospital environment. The group named themselves the Three Trees Company after the three wards at the centre: Fir, Hazel and Pine.

For most of our participants, these sessions are their first foray into the world of theatre. We've worked on their creative writing, storytelling and song writing skills - always taking their lead as to what interests them.

Currently the Three Trees Company are working on a variety show titled In Our Shoes. Written entirely by the group members over the past six months, the piece covers a broad range of topics and interests; from seafaring and rap music, to personal reflections on time spent in hospital. We're so excited for them to share their work with us that we're staging it twice this autumn - once in an informal dress rehearsal for fellow patients at The Chichester Centre, and once to an invited audience in the Minerva Theatre.