A time capsule has been buried at the construction site of Manchester’s new £105.9 m adult mental health inpatient unit, North View.
To be operated by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), the facility will replace the current Park House adult mental health inpatient unit on the North Manchester General Hospital site. Work on the 150-bedroom unit started in August 2022, with it anticipated to be built and operational this year.
The time capsule was created to preserve the history of Park House, and memories of the North Manchester area, before North View opens later this year. It contains contributions and memorabilia from Park House patients, staff, local schools, and contractors, including:
- Winning submissions to the Time Capsule Worksheet Competition, made by pupils from schools in the North Manchester area – Abraham Moss Primary School, Northridge School, and The King David High School.
- Contributions and artwork from service-users at Park House.
- Staff photos from wards at Park House.
- A document detailing the NMGH site history.
- Information about Park House and the existing buildings.
- Information about mental health services and care.
- North View design and construction images,
- A visual timeline of key milestones for North View, and a North View progress video.
- A photo of the IHP (building construction) team.
- Coins.
- A newspaper.
- Stamps.
The time capsule was officially buried at a special ceremony on 7 May 2024, attended by pupils from schools in North Manchester; Park House patients and staff; the Chair of GMMH, Tony Warne; Chief Finance director at GMMH, Suzanne Robinson; Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Bev Craig; Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, and Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board at Manchester City Council, Councillor Thomas Frederick Robinson, and NHSE director and head of Profession for Estates and Facilities, Simon Corben.
Tony Warne said: “This really is a historic moment for North Manchester, as we preserve information and relics about, and from, our wonderful, diverse community. With everything from poems to artwork, photographs, videos, and day-to-day items, our time capsule portrays a snapshot in time which captures the spirit of our people, mental health services, history, and aspirations, for future generations to one day look back on. Who knows how different their lives may be?”
Simon Corben of NHS England, said: “It was a real privilege to be part of this event. It was impressive to see the progress on the North View site, and the pace at which this project has been delivered to replace outdated and unsuitable dormitory accommodation with a new unit containing single en-suite rooms. There’s been great collaboration between GMMH, the contractor, the architects, and service-users.”
Gary Bowker, Regional MD at VINCI Building, said: “It’s been wonderful to see all the brilliant contributions to the time capsule event, meet members of the community, and tell them all about the exciting work we are doing at North View. Social value is a huge part of what we do, and as part of this, we have set up a community skills centre to support local 16-24 year olds through training and accredited qualifications. Its aim is to support those furthest from the labour market into employment, and help close the future construction skills gap for North Manchester. So far we have provided 7,200 training hours and 965 hours of work experience. Everyone who participates also has the opportunity to move into paid employment, and we have already seen a number of learners progress to this.”