Thinking outside the box!

When the pandemic first hit, the UK’s healthcare chaplains were forced to rethink the way they ministered to patients. Trust chaplain Keith Ponsford found an innovative solution in a two-inch cube.

The minute Covid started, our style of work had to change because we were no longer able to go from bed to bed and ward to ward,” says retired Elim pastor Keith Ponsford, who ministers as a chaplain within the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

“I came across a website called Quran for Hospitals and discovered Quran Shifa cubes which contain readings in 12 different languages from a variety of readers. I wondered if this could be a solution to the problem.”

Intrigued, Keith got hold of one and quickly saw the potential for a larger range of audio ‘faith cubes’.

“I looked around to find someone who would allow us to use one of their spoken New Testaments, and the Bible Society gave us permission to use their digital download, which is a modern CEV dramatisation by Riding Lights Theatre Company.

“It has 32 different voices reading the New Testament, which brings it to life in a dynamic and vibrant way.”

With permission obtained, Keith loaded the New Testament onto 20 cubes, ordered 10 Quran cubes too and set out to offer patients a brand new bedside ministry.

The cubes, which cost roughly £6 each, have gone down a storm. “They’ve been brilliant. If people are lonely, we can give them a cube and set it playing – all they have to do is press start and stop to work them and call us if the battery goes flat,” he says. “One lady had one, and the woman in the bed beside her heard it. Next thing, she was asking if she could have one too.”

So popular have the faith cubes been that Keith and the chaplaincy team at ESNEFT are now looking for ways to expand the offer.

“The audio comes from an SD card, so we can put extra things on the cubes. I’m in the process of trying to get some royalty-free music to add to them, then we can also add worship. With Christmas coming up, we can put carols on them too.

“We are now in the process of producing some ‘thought for the day’ style recordings with a series of three to five-minute uplifting thoughts around a theme so a patient can have a daily thought for the day to listen to while in hospital.”

The Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity provided the funding to buy the existing cubes last year. Following their success, Keith and the chaplains are hoping to secure further charitable funds to buy more cubes in order to expand the service to a wider range of patients.

“On separate SD cards, we hold recordings of Jewish prayers and texts which have been recorded in-house and we’re in the process of making mindfulness exercises and texts for other faith and belief groups.

“They have been really well received so we want to be able to bless more people with them,” Keith says.

This article first appeared in the December 2022 edition of Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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