It is not very often that you come across a news story that makes you feel good. Keith's Closet is one of those, and is well worth investing two minutes to read about his wonderful achievement.

Keith Donnelly is an Irishman with a thick accent. He is also a mental health nurse in Sydney.

Keith noticed that when mental health patients use a hospital's facilities, they often come in under the Mental Health Act, which means they walk in with just the clothes they are wearing or, sometimes, insufficient clothing.

Looking to rectify the problem and to provide patients with dignity and self-esteem, Keith founded Keith's Closet.

"Basically, Keith's Closet is a walk-in wardrobe store room where our patients who access the mental health service often with just the clothes on their back or not sufficient clothing to take in, have the opportunity to come to Keith's Closet for a one-on-one shopping experience. Embrace the nice, clean, tidy environment and choose fashion, style and size, whatever they like."

"They may not have time to pack a bag. They may not have family or friends to access some clothing. So this just helps them along with their journey, and improves their dignity, self-esteem and confidence."

The quality and range of clothing and footwear are high, even down to more formal attire.

"We hope to cater for everybody. If it's something for a fancy occasion that they have lined up following discharge. If it's something that they want to dress up in casual wear during their hospital stay. We've got PJs, we've got accessories. So, if you really want to come here and shop till you drop, this is the place."

Keith supply comes from retailers and individuals who have beautiful clothes just sitting in their wardrobes. His goal is to go global ultimately, but for now, Lismore is closet number six.

"Look, the goal is huge. I have to say, we want to get into every mental health setting across New South Wales, across Australia, and definitely, one day, our big vision is to go overseas.

"We do recognise that it is a global issue. I've worked in mental health, obviously, back home in Ireland, I've got friends who work in mental health settings across the globe, and this seems to be a big, big issue. We also find, like the people coming into the hospital, the only opportunity for clothing is often a hospital-like gown, which is very stigmatising. So we want to reduce that and just make a really difficult time a little bit brighter."

"Like us all, I guess we all get a sense of looking good and feeling good when we have a nice outfit, when we have access to fresh clothes, when often, many people don't. So, I think it is a very, very simple idea for a very worthwhile impact and a very big impact on people's journey during their stay."

Keith has seen firsthand how his new venture has helped people.

"So many years back, when we opened in 2019, a short time later, I was actually showcasing the closet to a local member down in Randwick, and I remember a gentleman walking up in a beautiful suit, a lot nicer than the suit I have on, and he was either getting that out of Keith's closet, and he was genuine. He's strutting the stuff down the corridor. And he said, Look, what do you think of the suit I got from Keith's closet?

"I actually placed the suit in there myself, and I did hope that whoever got this suit would be wearing it, and I would actually get to meet the person. So, I was really delighted, and he was very, very happy with the change that he felt. He felt such a lift, he said.

"But later that day, when he was asked to change units into the step down ward, I had about three or four patients asking me if he could be discharged that day because he's looking for a psychologist. So, simple things like that. That was, that was one of many, many memories that will long live in my mind and makes it worthwhile."

The funding for Keith's Closet comes from the NSW Government. It is not significant like other facilities that have been announced in the last two days, but it certainly matches the impact on the community.

Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson said supplying the funding was a no-brainer.

"We know that when we talk about wrap around services, that's not just the quality mental health care that people receive at our mental health facilities like here in the Lismore hospital, wrap around means all of those other elements, and for a lot of people, access to clean quality clothing, something that, for many seems like a pretty basic entitlement, basic right? That's something that they struggle with.

(Keith, Ministers and staff from Lismore Base Hospital's Mental Health Unit inside Keith's Closet)

"We are looking to fill that gap, and funding Keith's Closet to be here in Lismore is an example of us leaning into those full wrap-around supports. We want people who are experiencing mental health challenges to be on a journey of recovery. We believe that mental health can be something that people live with but recover from, and that journey of recovery requires not just the incredible work here, of the staff, the clinicians, but it also does require things like clean clothes, things like a place to live, things like those psychosocial elements that make a person's journey of recovery one that's successful.

"So, Keith's Closet plays a critical role in that we have seen it successful already elsewhere in the state, and it was a no-brainer for us to lean into, making sure Lismore had access to this incredibly quality facility."

Minister for Health Park Ryan provided the $200,000 so that three additional Keith's Closets could be created, one in Lismore, Bankstown and the Illawarra.