A date for your diary! Our popular Charlotte Straker Project Fete will be held on Saturday 11th September this year, to raise funds for our Respite Care Service. The venue will be decided nearer the time, but will be either in Charlotte Straker House gardens or the Parish Hall in Corbridge.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation we are able to offer all our staff counselling to help them deal with any mental health difficulties arising from the Covid pandemic.
The funding will pay for virtual counselling from the Newcastle branch of MIND, the mental health charity plus counselling from the Sands Counselling services in Newcastle. Through their two counsellors, Susan and Sacha, we are able to offer staff either telephone or, individual and group to group counselling to support with de- brief and promoting mental health well-being.
Pam Crawley, Registered Manager commented “Since the Covid outbreak our team has experienced some very stressful and upsetting moments. The mental health status of our staff team is a priority and we wanted to ensure that they have the support and coping strategies they need to recover from the recent months. We would like to thank the Community Foundation for granting the funds so that we offer Charlotte Straker employees a choice of high quality counselling and well being support. There has already been a number of staff who have accessed the programmes and we hope they will find the treatment useful in managing the impact from traumatic memories and experiences.”
A local lady, Susan Stevenson, is taking on a “sponsored slim” challenge over the next six months, on behalf of the Respite Care Service.
Her mum, Marian Moon was cared in Charlotte Straker House and used our Respite Care service.
Susan told us that “I am delighted to fundraise for the Charlotte Straker Project Respite Care Bed Service, as I’d like to ‘give something back’ for all the care my lovely mam had from the charity. It gave my family peace of mind knowing that she was in good hands. My current weight is 18 stone 7 lb and I am aiming to lose 2.5 stone in 6 months. I also need the support and encouragement to get my weight and health back on track! All donations, big or small are gratefully received and I’ll keep you updated with how I’m getting on.”
Susan’s target fundraising amount is £250. We are so grateful to her for deciding to fundraise for our charity and we want to help her in any way that we can! Can you help Susan by giving her the support and encouragement she needs? Her Virgin MoneyGiving page is https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SusanSlimChallenge – we’ll keep you posted with Susan’s progress and cheer her on from the sidelines!
(the photo shows Susan with her mum Marian Moon)
The Charlotte Straker Project is now completely Covid free and is now pleased to be taking admissions for new residential and nursing residents. To protect against infection, all new guests will stay in our state of the art “Welcome Suite” for 14 days, with dedicated nursing, meals delivered by our Head Chef and enjoyable personalised activities, before they are moved into their chosen room in the main house.
Our rooms have undergone a deep clean and we have a rolling refurbishment programme with luxurious furnishings, flooring, curtains, bedding and welcoming new colour schemes. All our rooms are ensuite, with modern bathrooms with the latest accessible equipment and we also have an innovative cutting-edge bathroom with an integrated jacuzzi for any resident who enjoys a proper deep soak! Our communal areas have been recently refurbished and include comfortable accessible furniture, designed to encourage friendly conversation and grouped chat.
Our brand-new accessible visitors’ pod provides a safe, warm environment where visitors can meet their loved ones. The pod has two separate entrances, one for the residents to enter with the staff, ramped for easy access and one for family. The interior is decorated with beautiful photos chosen by our residents, is easily cleaned, fully heated and meets the highest level of infection control requirements.
In the warmer months our beautiful gardens come into their own and residents love sitting on our flower filled decking area, enjoying the sunshine and idyllic scenery.
Our care is bespoke: we genuinely know and love our residents, and tailor everything to the individual, their likes and dislikes, their preferred lifestyle, interests and personality. Our meals are restaurant quality and crafted by our experienced Head Chef from the freshest ingredients and designed to cater to individual tastes and care needs. We encourage our guests to continue their hobbies and interests and we have a stimulating and appealing programme of in-house activities and outdoor excursions.
To enquire about our room vacancies please email office@charlottestraker.org.uk or ring our office on 01434 633 999 (option 1)
The Crafty Women of Corbridge are a group of volunteers who upcycle fabric, wool and haberdashery into beautiful items for sale, with all proceeds going towards our charity.
They have been busy knitting some fabulous hats and scarves, which can be bought from the link below. All proceeds from the sale go to our Respite Care Service.
If you would like to order any of these items please email angela.jones@charlottestraker.org.uk who will send payment instructions and arrange delivery.
Now that we are completely Covid free we are pleased to annouce that our Respite Care Service is reopening for free of charge short term respite care breaks. Our respite room has undergone a deep clean and has been completely redecorated, with luxurious furnishings, flooring, curtains and a welcoming new colour scheme. The room is ensuite, with a modern bathroom with the latest accessible equipment. All respite guests will experience dedicated nursing, delicious meals and enjoyable personalised activities. For information on how to eligibility and the booking process please click here https://charlottestraker.org.uk/respite-care/
The pandemic has been extremely challenging for many carers, with respite facilities closed to new applicants during lockdown, so we are determined to open this facility to ensure we continue to support our local community. We’ve had many enquiries over the last few weeks from exhausted people who have been working so hard to keep their loved ones safe through the Covid crisis. Opening our respite care service will ensure hard-pressed local carers can receive some reprieve, knowing that their family members are being looked after in a safe and high quality environment.
Fundraising has been difficult over the past few months, with the Respite Care Service being particularly hard hit. The charity now desperately needs to raise £30,000 to keep this core service running until the end of March 2022.
We are determined to keep the bed open, as before the pandemic it was a clear lifeline to the community and a much needed service in the area. We made a promise to our supporters that it would remain a fundamental part of the services offered at Charlotte Straker House and therefore all our fundraising efforts need to be directed to this appeal.
As we pass the first anniversary of lockdown, we ask our community to consider making a regular or one off gift to the Charlotte Straker Respite Care Service, ensuring we can care for local families and plan for the future as we navigate through the coming weeks and months. Now more than ever, we need your support.
To donate to the Charlotte Straker Respite Care Service please visit https://charlottestraker.org.uk/donate/community-respite-care-bed-appeal/
At a time where many of our volunteers are unable to be with us through circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we are delighted to note that the volunteer role has been very much alive at Charlotte Straker, through the endeavours of our very own Debbie Thick. We know that Debbie represents the many volunteers who would wish to be with us and she has certainly flown the flag for volunteers across the last few months.
Debbie has supported our service and our residents across a number of areas; as part of our kitchen and domestic reserve team and as a friendly and chatty face to bolster and give the team a lift. Debbie has also proven to be an amazing comfort and support to our residents, providing a friendly face and a kind word and time to listen and just to be there.
We are so very grateful to Debbie for her unfailing support through the last weeks…a true angel for the Charlotte Straker Project.
We are offering staff sessions of “Mental Health First Aid” training through the Mental Health First Aid England social enterprise scheme.
This will train staff to identify and recognise mental ill health and help people find the support that they need.
Pam Crawley, our manager commented, “Now that our home has recovered from the recent Covid crisis, we wanted to fund these courses to equip our staff with the skills they need to support their own and other’s well being. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and this course will help our staff notice warning signs, and will also point out options for support.”
The photo shows the training taking place, with attendees from within Charlotte Straker House, and those attending virtually on zoom.
At Charlotte Straker, there is no end to the flexible talents of staff, who have been working longer hours during the recent Covid crisis. One of our heroes is Lynsey Forster, an experienced Senior Care Assistant at Charlotte Straker House. Lynsey has been such an important part of support to Charlotte Straker through the past few difficult weeks, working tirelessly and without days off in support of each and every one of our residents and the staff team. Clinical Lead Nurse Deborah O’ Neill commented that, “Lynsey has been a huge support to me through the most difficult times, where many of our exceptional staff were unable to be with us. I often had to say, ‘Lynsey I need your help, I’m making you second in command’ and Lynsey rose to the occasion every time”. The photo shows Lynsey, helping to prepare and serve meals to our residents during the recent Covid crisis.
Even though we are clear of Covid at Charlotte Straker, it is still so very important that we continue to socially distance and that we do everything that we can to keep the house safe.
At the same time, our Registered Manager, Pam Crawley is keen to see life return to some kind of normality for the people who live at Charlotte Straker.
In order to make sure that life at Charlotte reflects our residents wishes, Pam is commencing a series of Resident “one to one” Meetings, in order to make sure that what we provide at Charlotte House is exactly what our residents wish it to be.
The Charlotte Straker Project
Charlotte Straker, Cookson Close
Corbridge, NE45 5HB
01434 633999
office@charlottestraker.org.uk
Working for us
Do you want to join the Charlotte Straker team?
Join our mailing list
Would you like to receive information on our fundraising events, resident and staff updates, room vacancies, respite care information and volunteering opportunities?