It brought great joy to chairperson Lotte Frost Jørgensen when she received the news that 'Fonden Sol og Strand by Margit og Kjeld' has decided to donate 200,000 kroner to Hope in Psychiatry.

– I was truly pleasantly surprised – this is a donation that really means a lot for our project, she says.

With the money, it is possible to hold a series of cultural visits and mini-concerts in psychiatric wards and outpatient clinics across Denmark throughout 2024. The hope is to secure funding to hold a total of 200 events during 2024.

– Music, song, and poetry have something truly special – they can distract patients from symptoms and alleviate mental pain. At the same time, a sense of community is created among the patients in the department, which is valuable, as we know that many psychiatric patients struggle to form new relationships or engage in social contexts, says Lotte Frost Jørgensen, who expects that between 1,400 and 2,000 patients will benefit from the cultural visits.

Demanding activities

‘Hope in Psychiatry’ was founded in 2018 by Lotte Frost Jørgensen, who through her previous work in psychiatry had repeatedly experienced that patients were calling for meaningful activities while they were hospitalized.

– It is not a lack of will from the staff's side, but psychiatry is under pressure on all fronts – both financially and in terms of personnel. I pondered that there should be someone who raised money for psychiatry to meet the demand for activities, tells Lotte Frost Jørgensen.

However, no one took the initiative, and therefore she ultimately saw no other option but to take the lead and establish the association, which today offers a wide range of initiatives – including Motion Cafés and micro-donations that allow for events, outings, purchasing games and instruments – all initiatives that create a foundation for socializing and community.

Becomes happy and moved

In 2022 alone, the association's initiatives reached around 7,000 people, and Lotte Frost Jørgensen is happy that she followed her heart and founded the association in 2018.

– The association's work makes more and more sense to me. I felt that I could not help the patients sufficiently when I was in psychiatry, but I feel that I can now. When I hear about the impact what we do has on the patients, I become moved and happy, she says.

The couple Margit and Kjeld Andersen established Sol og Strand Holiday Home Rental A/S in 1979. The couple has now transferred ownership to a foundation with the desire to both preserve and develop the business in Danish hands and to support charitable and local causes.

– It is gratifying for us that we can support an organization like 'Hope in Psychiatry', which tries to create bright spots in the patients' often heavy everyday lives. We hope that with this donation we can create good experiences and spark glimpses of joy and hope in psychiatry, say Margit and Kjeld Andersen.

In total, the foundation has donated nearly three million kroner this year, and the expectation is that this amount will increase in the future.