In 2024, Airedale Hospital and Community Charity launched their first ‘Menu of Poems’ for patients across Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. Following their initial success, the charity are bringing the Menu of Poems back for this years’ National Poetry Day with a brand-new theme.
The Menu of Poems has become a staple of the charity’s Act of Kindness campaign, commonly referred to as Airedale AOK. The campaign launched in October 2021 and began with an aim of spreading kindness throughout the local community including patients, visitors and colleagues of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.
This years’ Menu of Poems theme is Celebration in recognition of Airedale Hospital and Community Charity ringing in their 30th anniversary on 10 October 2025.
Jodie Hearnshaw, Charity Manager said:
“Our Act of Kindness campaign began with us spreading random acts of kindness across the Trust to boost morale during a particularly difficult period. This has evolved over the years into the local community, and we now speak about the importance of kindness at open days, community events and school assemblies.
“We saw the Menu of Poems as another way for us to give something back to people spending time in hospital and colleagues working across the Airedale Trust sites. The interest in 2024 was fantastic so we knew we had to bring it back especially in the run up to our 30th anniversary which also takes place in October.”
Submissions to the Menu of Poems can be sent in up to Sunday 31 August to anhsft.charity@nhs.net. Poems must be the writers own work and are capped at 25 lines to ensure the charity can include a wide variety of poems. The Menu of Poems is open to everyone, and writers of all ages are encouraged to send in their creations.
You can view all 24 submissions to the 2024 Menu of Poems by visiting www.airedalecharity.org/portfolio/menu-of-poems/. If you’d like to find out more about Airedale AOK including previous campaigns and what’s to come, visit www.airedalecharity.org/portfolio/airedale-aok-our-acts-of-kindness-campaign/.
If you would like to discuss ideas for your own Acts of Kindness idea, contact the charity team by email anhsft.charity@nhs.net or call 01535 294870.
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