Wigan mental health worker turns his colleagues into movie stars to keep spirits up

A mental health employee and film fan is keeping spirits up on the coronavirus front line by turning colleagues into film stars.

Justin Walker, who works on the crisis resolution and home treatment team at Atherleigh Park, has used his love of the silver screen to keep fellow workers smiling at a very tough time.

He has taken scenes from classic movies, including The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, and replaced stars’ faces with those of North West Boroughs NHS Trust staff. Justin has then animated the results and put them on social media, sparking much delight.

He is now taking requests for further light-hearted movie scenes and says he is pleased his passion for cinema can provide some relief for workers facing enormous pressure and fear during the pandemic.

Justin, 39, said: “Like all the NHS we are having to do face-to-face contacts with people in crisis. Management of risk is important but it grinds people down. People have to be off self-isolating, teams get stretched, morale goes down. People are also feeling quite anxious about things like PPE while having to keep focusing on the most important people, who are our patients.

“One day I was in the office and I thought of The Magnificent Seven. It seemed appropriate as it’s about seven people taking on many more against all the odds. I got images of the cast, put colleagues’ faces on and people absolutely loved it. It spiralled from there and I’ve been doing it ever since.

“It’s just doing something I feel will bring a smile to people’s faces. They say it’s keeping them going and it’s nice to play a part in keeping them ticking through this.”

Justin’s other cinematic exploits include a take on Die Hard featuring an Atherleigh Park employee and casting some of the admin team in scenes from Nine to Five, which starred Dolly Parton and other big names.

Justin said he had hoped to become a film director as a teen and did a media production course, but eventually took up a career in mental health instead while cinema remains his hobby.

To see his films visit www.facebook.com/Walkerfilm81/

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