At The Life Rooms, there are a number of ways you can share feedback and suggestions with us about our services, our buildings, what changes you'd like to see, or how we could make your experience better. We capture your feedback in a number of ways:
- Suggestions boxes in The Life Rooms Walton and The Life Rooms Southport - you'll find these on our reception desks
- Side-by-side sessions - you'll sometimes find these scheduled on our Learning timetables, or the service you're accessing might invite you to a session
- In person - you can make a suggestion to any of The Life Rooms team
- Social media comments and messages on The Life Rooms pages
- QR codes - some of our services have their own feedback forms to find out how your experience was, this is usually through scanning a QR code and answering a few short questions
How do I receive responses to my suggestions?
Many of the suggestions made to us are anonymous, which means we can't always provide direct feedback. We will regularly update this page with suggestions made to us, and our response or action to these. Our notice boards in The Life Rooms Walton and The Life Rooms Southport will also display these suggestions.
All suggestions published here and on our notice boards will remain anonymous, however, if you do not want your suggestion to be published here, please leave a note on your suggestion card or survey to say this.
Suggestions and Feedback
| Service | Suggestion | Action / Rationale |
| All | Providing more visible feedback to suggestions made via our suggestion boxes. | This 'You Said, We Did' page has been created to capture suggestions we receive across The Life Rooms services and provide an update on any actions we're taking, or a reason why we're not able to progress with the suggestion. We will also add feedback regularly to notice boards in our Life Rooms buildings. |
| Learning | Add online safety courses to our Learning timetables. | Our Learning Team have taken part in training with Merseyside Police to learn more about this, and are now developing a course on online safety/cyber security. This new course is expected to be launched in January 2026. |
| Learning | Standardise the times that sessions are delivered, on the hour, not half past the hour. | We do this when possible, but we also have partners who deliver sessions at the times that they are available and at times that work flexibly around our staff availability. We also have essential staff meetings to attend so rather than cancel sessions we start them at a time that is suitable for the delivery staff that allows the sessions to continue. |
| Learning | Can we have sessions starting after 10.30am to accommodate the free bus travel. | We start our Learning sessions from 10.00am to allow as many people to travel to site as possible. It would be unfair to start any later for service users who can access the building from 9:15am. We also have a range of courses delivered at different times throughout the week. |
| Learning | Keep music appreciation sessions on a Friday afternoon | When we can accommodate this we do, but it is not always possible to ensure this is a permanent session as we have to accommodate staffing arrangements across our Southport and Walton sites. We also book partners in around our staff availability, including annual leave requests. |
| Learning | Walking group should start at 10.00am sharp, not wait for late arrivals. | We have a 10-minute grace period with all of our Learning sessions to allow booked attendees to join who may be running late. This also applies to our Walk and Talk sessions. |
| Learning | 30-minute wellbeing walks | We have introduced 30-minute Walk and Talk sessions to our Walton and Southport timetables, when staffing numbers allows for this. |
| Learning | Games and colouring in the open space at Southport again | Colouring sheets and materials will be available in the open space from Monday 1 December. |
| Learning | General first aid / life saving sessions | We are looking into potential options for this and will update on progress in 2026. |
| Service | Suggestion | Action/Rationale |
| Learning |
New courses/sessions: |
We will look to introduce meditation, wellness, and positive affirmation sessions in Spring 2026. We are also looking at options for finance support courses and will provide an update in 2026. Sit Fit is scheduled on our December Southport timetable. We try to accomodate courses where we have resources and capacity to do this, while balancing with any new or different courses for variety on our timetables. We did have a sign language course scheduled, to be delivered by Hugh Baird College. Unfortunately there were no bookings for these sessions and we had to cancel them. There are some courses we don't have the capacity or budget to deliver such as jewellery making, yoga, sound bath sessions. |
| Café | As the café is unable to accept tips, could you add a donation box for Mersey Cares Charity instead. | We will be adding a collection box for Mersey Cares Charity near our café till shortly. |
| Library (Walton) | Service Users asked for more Mental Health books for adults and children in our Library. | Our Walton Coordinator, Alan, linked up with The Reading Agency via our links with Liverpool City Council to secure them. They are now in the library and available for anyone to borrow who has a library card. |
| Service | Suggestion | Action/Rationale |
| Café (Walton) |
Printed menus with prices would be helpful |
We now have printed menus with prices in The Life Rooms Walton café. |
| The Life Rooms Walton and Southport buildings | More visibility of office-based staff during Christmas parties and throughout December | Some staff who do not deliver service user-facing roles took part in activities during our Christmas parties and during December such as Walk and Talk, Music Appreciation, board games and quixxes. We received feedback from service users that they appreciated that additional staff spent time with them. |
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Learning |
Crafts for wellbeing:
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| Service | Suggestion | Action/Rationale |
| Walton Café | Suggestion to provide tea and coffee when staff member is off, with an honesty box. | |
| Learning | Request for more courses such as art and drawing. |
When planning The Life Rooms timetable, we aim for our offer to be varied and balanced, rather than multiple repeats of the same type of session. While confidence‑building and creative sessions such as art are popular and play an important role, our learning offer is designed to help people move on to other types of sessions that help develop knowledge, practical skills and confidence over time. |
| Learning | Request for timetables to be printed, laminated and displayed outside the building for passers-by. |
The Life Rooms Learning offer is primarily designed for people accessing Mersey Care mental health services, in line with how our service is funded and commissioned. Whilst we welcome interest in our work, our focus is on supporting those already engaged with mental health services to build confidence, skills and knowledge to support their recovery. We’re also mindful of our environmental responsibilities and aim to reduce printing and laminating wherever possible, so we provide timetable information digitally and within the building rather than displaying laminated materials externally. |
| Service | Suggestion | Action/Rationale |
| Engagement | Request for increased advertising in local venues (GP surgeries, coffee shops, libraries, community centre) to increase footfall. | Our Learning, Pathways, and IPS Employment services are primarily designed for people accessing Mersey Care mental health services, in line with how the service is funded and commissioned. Whilst we welcome interest in our work, our focus is on supporting those already engaged with mental health services to build confidence, skills and knowledge to support their recovery. |
| Facilities: Southport | Concern that service users are being shut out due to the building of a new staff office space; request for it to be a shared room. | To ensure we can safely deliver our services and support service users, we have an increased staff presence at our Southport site which requires suitable working space. As we sometimes work with confidential information, we will not be able to share this office space with service users. |
| Learning | Question about why Music Appreciation reduced from two sessions, and request for Friday afternoon sessions. |
We understand concerns about the reduction in music appreciation sessions, as these have been well attended and valued. Our intention is not to remove confidence‑building activities, but to ensure the overall timetable remains varied and supports progression. By balancing creative and confidence‑based sessions with activities focused on building knowledge and practical skills, we can best support people to grow and move forward in their recovery. |
| Learning | Request for clay model making sessions to return. |
We understand how valuable and enjoyable these sessions can be. However, sessions of this kind often require suitably trained or specifically qualified staff, as well as specialist supervision, to ensure they are delivered safely and to an appropriate standard. We vary the timetable to allow qualified staff to deliver these sessions when available. Other community services are better equipped to deliver these classes on a frequent basis. |
| Learning | Request for a second allotment session each week during June/July. |
While we understand that allotment sessions are particularly popular, we are not always able to prioritise these over essential provision in our buildings. We review our timetable regularly to ensure it remains appropriate, safe, and sustainable within the resources we have available. We do offer a varied timetable of confidence, skills and knowledge courses to ensure all service users can develop and enjoy activities on a weekly basis. |
| Learning | Request for Walk & Talk sessions to return to the timetable. |
We fully recognise that walking groups can have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing, offering opportunities for gentle activity, social connection, and time outdoors. At present, however, Walk and Talk sessions are widely available through other local and community‑based organisations that are specifically set up to deliver and sustain walking groups. As a result, this is not something we are always able to provide directly within our service. We are very happy to support people to find and access existing walking groups and organisations in the community. This helps ensure people can still benefit from walking‑based support in a way that is accessible and sustainable. We will however see short health walks returning to our Southport timetable in the forthcoming months. |
| Social activities | Suggestion to run karaoke and quizzes more regularly, not just at Christmas. |
The Life Rooms Learning offer includes socially interactive activities where these support therapeutic aims. However, as an NHS service, activities must support people to manage their health and wellbeing independently through improving knowledge, skills and confidence to aid in recovery. Timetabling decisions are therefore based on sessions and classes where we can evidence that this support is happening. |
| Social activities | Suggestion for bingo sessions to run year-round. |
The Life Rooms offers a balanced timetable of activities. Social interaction is an important part of wellbeing and recovery, and many of our sessions create opportunities for people to connect with others. However, all activities are intentionally designed to build confidence, knowledge and practical skills that support health, wellbeing and mental health recovery. We will therefore not be able to deliver social activities such as bingo. |
| Engagement | Request for a Side by Side session to restart in Southport. |
We are working towards restarting Side by Side sessions as a way to discuss timetable content and what we are able to provide as a team. These sessions are intended to support constructive conversation around our learning offer and how it is delivered. We have found that Side by Side sessions can at times move away from this purpose and become focused on complaints or requests about areas of the service that are outside the Learning team’s control. To ensure that these sessions are effective and beneficial for all involved, it is important that they are used to focus on their intended topic. |
| Learning | Request for table tennis and board games socials, preferably afternoons. |
We recognise that activities like table tennis can support physical health, confidence, and social interaction, and we understand why they are popular. At the same time, we need to ensure that our overall timetable remains balanced and varied, offering a mix of sessions that focus on building confidence, developing practical skills, and increasing knowledge. This balance is important to meet the needs of a wide range of people and to align with the aims of our curriculum. |
| Learning | Request for more physical health sessions / Request to bring back Sit Fit classes using resistance bands. |
We understand how valuable and enjoyable these sessions can be. However, sessions of this kind often require suitably trained or specifically qualified staff, as well as specialist supervision, to ensure they are delivered safely and to an appropriate standard. We vary the timetable to allow qualified staff to deliver these sessions when available. Other community services are better equipped to deliver physical health sessions on a frequent basis. |
| Learning | Requests for science and history lessons. |
We understand the interest in subjects such as science and history and recognise the value of lifelong learning. However, The Life Rooms learning offer is targeted at supporting mental health recovery and being able to manage your health and wellbeing independently, rather than providing general adult education. To maintain a focused and balanced timetable, we prioritise sessions that directly support wellbeing, confidence and self‑management of wellbeing. Adult learning services are better placed to deliver subject‑specific education such as this. |
| Learning | Suggestion to run game show style sessions. |
We understand that people enjoy activities which feel fun and engaging. Within The Life Rooms, however, sessions must be purposeful and clearly linked to recovery, wellbeing or skill development. Activities that are primarily entertainment‑based, such as game‑show style sessions, sit outside the scope of what The Life Rooms can offer as an NHS service. |
| Learning | Suggestion for past life regression sessions. |
We understand people are interested in a wide range of approaches to wellbeing. However, The Life Rooms learning offer is part of an NHS mental health service, and activities must be evidence‑based, psychologically safe and appropriate within an NHS setting. Past life regression sits outside of this and is not something we can offer. |
| Social activities | Request for organised trips out. |
While we recognise that trips out can feel enjoyable and beneficial, The Life Rooms learning offer is an NHS service focused on delivering structured, recovery‑based sessions within a safe and appropriate environment. Trips out sit outside the scope of what The Life Rooms can offer, due to factors including safeguarding, staffing, risk management and the need to ensure activities remain therapeutic and outcome‑focused. Our timetable is therefore delivered on site/at our allotment and designed to support people to build confidence, skills and knowledge that they can then use in wider community settings. |
| Learning |
Suggestion for named staff member to lead arts sessions instead of administrative duties. |
We recognise that the staff member was highly valued and that people enjoyed the sessions they delivered. However, that individual has formally moved on to a different role within the organisation, and The Life Rooms timetable cannot be dependent on specific individuals. Sessions are designed around The Life Rooms model and learning offer, rather than particular staff members. This ensures consistency, sustainability and fairness of access, regardless of staffing changes. |
| Facilities | Request for bike racks for people who cycle. | We are reviewing where the nearest bike racks our to inform service users, and are exploring what other options we have available with our Estates Team. |
| Facilities: Southport | Suggestion to run a tuck shop at The Life Rooms Southport. |
At present, we do not have the staffing capacity to manage a tuck shop, and it does not fall within the remit of the service or existing staff roles. In addition, as we are based within a busy city centre, there are a wide range of shops and facilities nearby where service users can purchase snacks before or after sessions. We do provide access to a water machine and a coffee machine on site, and we continue to encourage service users to plan meals and refreshments around their session times. |
| Communications | Timely feedback to suggestions. | We have reviewed our processes for responding to feedback, and there will now be a monthly updated shared on our website and on our site notice boards. |
| Learning | Suggestion for a named person to run a line dancing class. |
We understand the appeal of activities such as line dancing, particularly as they support movement and social connection. However, The Life Rooms Learning offer is delivered by staff with specific skills aligned to mental health recovery and managing health and wellbeing independently. Where sessions require specialist or technical expertise outside our skill set, it would not be appropriate for us to deliver them as part of our timetable. Community centres and local groups are well placed to offer these activities. |