How we’re supporting the Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit café mornings at Charing Cross Hospital
16 December 2025
The Charing Cross Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit (CNRU) has been enhancing the hospital and care experience for many of its patients through their café morning programme, which our Responder volunteers have been helping to support.
This programme was first set up in 2017 by staff in the CNRU; the idea came from discussions between therapists, consultants, and psychologists on how to better support patients in the unit during their rehabilitation following a stroke or similar neurological condition. They’d
found that patients felt anxious about returning home and reintegrating back into their old
routines. From these discussions, idea of the café morning programme was born!
Our volunteers have been supporting the unit since 2017, and when we introduced the
Responder volunteer role in 2022 we were delighted to be able to help even more with the cafe
programme. Responder volunteers help out across Charing Cross Hospital, supporting our staff and patients by responding to a variety of requests.
Every Thursday, a team of nurses and physiotherapists escort patients on the unit to Riverside Café, (about a 10-minute walk from the hospital) to enjoy a hot drink and a chat. This gives patients the opportunity to take a break from the hospital setting and start to regain confidence in doing everyday tasks. Many of the patients will take a short walk around the café, with the support and supervision of the staff, or take the drinks order for the table to support regaining the ability to write things down, and to practice their handwriting.
During these café trips, the group play a range of board games and other activities that they bring along, for example playing the word game Articulate, or Jenga to help improve their hand movements and dexterity.
Ankita Shah, Clinical Lead Therapist for the unit, said: “It’s an excellent way for patients to work towards multidisciplinary goals in a real world context. It gives them an opportunity to practice meaningful activities in an enjoyable, supportive way outside of the hospital environment. It has shown benefits in supporting patient wellbeing and helps their transition from hospital back into the community."
We are happy to support the café mornings with the help of our amazing volunteers, as well as through our fantastic grants team by providing funding for the drinks and snacks that are purchased each week.
