Katy Smith from K L Pony Therapy visited Charlotte Straker House last week, and brought some “mini horse magic” to our residents! A tiny chestnut Shetland pony called Cartier visited residents and even travelled upstairs in our lift to meet those who are unable to leave their rooms. Katy owns eight therapy ponies and said “our visits are designed to be very tactile, calming and soothing and our ponies are specially trained to meet people, and love the attention”. Our residents adored little Cartier and even those who were a little unsure soon enjoyed patting and talking to the tiny pony. Dorothy said “he is so small and I love his soft coat.” Sandra said “Oh he’s adorable! And so good about being inside.” Jessie wasn’t too keen at first but when Cartier came a little closer, she couldn’t resist stroking his mane and nose. Pam Crawley, Registered Manager added, “it was wonderful to see Katy again and Cartier the pony. These therapy sessions are lovely as our residents absolutely love stroking and talking to the pony and chatting about the animals that they’ve owned in the past. The fact that Cartier will calmly visit bedrooms is a huge bonus, and the visits especially helps those who are bed bound, or have poor mobility and eyesight.”
Jodie is a member of our care team and is also a fully qualified massage therapist. She has many years’ of experience in different types of therapies including Swedish massage, Indian head massage and lymphatic drainage and she now offers relaxing shoulder, neck, hand and leg massage to our residents. Jodie has always wanted to introduce therapies into a care home setting to introduce relaxation for the residents in the comfort of their own home. The therapies promote relaxation by using light, sweeping strokes to help relax and release muscle tension, which is very important to those residents experiencing aches, pains and joint stiffness. Jodie carries out the massage wherever is most comfortable: in their rooms; or (as you can see by the photos) even outside – wherever the individual is most relaxed. Muriel absolutely loves the sessions and says “it is absolute bliss. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it, and it makes me much less achy afterwards.” Colin says “oh it’s a dream, just so relaxing and I almost drift off to sleep. It’s wonderful to be taken care of.” Alan, who is pictured enjoying a leg massage says “she’s a lovely lady and so gentle. And we have a good chat too”. Jodie is definitely a favourite. Thank you to her from all the senior team – being able to combine her caring and massage expertise means that Jodie is constantly in demand and being kept very busy!
Corbridge Middle School contacted us last week to ask if we would be interested in their surplus stock of unopened visors, gloves and Covid tests. We were very grateful to receive the donation of big boxes full of equipment and supplies, especially as PPE is a continued additional expense to our organisation that does not receive funding.
The photo shows Kerri Smith, our Covid Link Coordinator with some of the PPE.
Thank you very much to the school team for thinking of us and their generous donation – it is very much appreciated!
Remembrance Sunday always means such a lot to our residents, so we organised a walk down to the centre of Corbridge village to show Jessie, Muriel and Margaret the touching displays of Remembrance poppies around St Andrew’s Church.
Margaret said “it was beautiful weather and it was lovely to be able to sit outside and see how the poppies were made and displayed. They were very cleverly crafted and the flood of poppies outside the church wall were beautiful. I can’t wait to visit the village again, especially if it’s as warm and sunny as last time.”
Many of our residents had family members that served in the forces, or were members themselves and everyone is very keen to mark Remembrance Day. As well as a church service at Charlotte Straker House, we held a minute’s silence, listened to our residents’ recollections and memories of World War 2 and previous Remembrance Days, and watched the broadcast from the Cenotaph in our communal lounges.
Our resident Jessie has always been a very keen crafter and seamstress. Recently she finished a lighthouse themed cross-stitch tapestry which we helped turn into a gorgeous pale blue cushion. Jessie is 98 years’ old and still loves stitching and making beautiful crafts. We’re so pleased that Jessie is able to continue with the hobbies she loves so much – and we absolutely love her new design!
The Charlotte Straker Project
Charlotte Straker, Cookson Close
Corbridge, NE45 5HB
01434 633999
office@charlottestraker.org.uk
