You are here: / / / August

Nicola is August’s Employee of the Month

August’s employee of the month is our Head Housekeeper Nicola Pick.
 
Cheryl Kennedy, our Home Manager said “Nicola a key member of staff who is always goes above and beyond in leading the Housekeeping team and keeping our care home clean and hygienic. No matter how busy she is, Nicola is always friendly and cheerful, and happy to help any other member of staff. They make a real difference to the lives of our residents. We are so lucky to have her on our team.”
 
Thank you to Nicola for her dedication and hard work at Charlotte Straker House.

Glory the pony brings smiles to our residents

We were so excited to welcome Glory, the therapy pony to Charlotte Straker House last week. Glory is a American Miniature Pony who has been trained by KL Pony Therapy. Glory was all dressed up for her visit, with jewels on her headcollar and sparkly painted hooves! The residents loved petting her, giving cuddles and stroking her mane.
Peter said, “it’s lovely to see a little pony in the home.” Margaret M said, “she is so glamorous, and I love her jewels and painted hooves.” Muriel added “I love ponies as my daughter used to have horses.” Dorothy said “Can we keep her?! I would love to have a pony here – we should make up a bed for her in my room!” Hazel told us “I can’t believe a pony visited me – I love animals.” Susan added “lovely jubbly! I am so pleased you’ve brought her in.”
Glory also visited our assisted living bungalows and was a huge hit. Our bungalow residents said “thank you for bringing her to see us. I love horses” and “she’s absolutely gorgeous.”
Animal-assisted therapy has been shown to have many benefits for people of all ages, and visits from therapy animals have been proven to lift mood and reduce stress and anxiety.
We are so grateful to KL Pony Therapy for bringing Glory to visit us. It was a truly special day for everyone involved.

Residents Enjoy a “Roaring ’20s” Afternoon

We threw an amazing 1920s themed afternoon, after the famous TV programme “Upstairs, Downstairs”. From the stylish decor to the snazzy outfits, it was a total blast!
Helen Coombes, our Head Cook, thought up and, coordinated the entire afternoon and our staff and volunteers went above and beyond to make this event truly special, dressing up as cooks, a butler, maids and a chauffeur.
As well as the “Upstairs, Downstairs” inspired outfits, we played some great quizzes and our chauffeur even drove around a handmade Charlotte Straker Rolls Royce.
Thank you to Kevin Beadle came to sing as part of the afternoon – he was a huge hit and everyone loved singing along to his music. Birgit got up to dance with Kev and said, “I love dancing!” and Muriel said, “I love these songs”.
We served a special afternoon tea, and a gorgeous art deco themed cake (thank you to Gill Musgrove, our admin assistant for her special icing skills)
Colin said, “I loved every minute of it – there was such a good atmosphere.” John told us that he “the singer was very good. I liked seeing all the staff dressed up.” Birgit loved the staff costumes, “those aprons and hats are very funny!”
Margaret G summed up the afternoon and said “it was marvellous, the music, the food and all the dressing up. Thank you to Helen for arranging it all.”
Check out the photos below for a glimpse into the incredible 1920s vibes. If this doesn’t make you want to do the Charleston, we don’t know what will!

Rain Stops Play! The Corbridge Charity Cricket Match and Family Fun Day

It was typical Bank Holiday weekend weather, with torrential rain and thunderstorms, but everyone worked so hard to put on a great Corbridge Charity Fun Day on Sunday.

The cricket matches (between rain clouds) were keenly fought, but the only game to be finished was Corbridge Youth Initiative against our own team, which the Youth Initiative won by the narrowest possible margin of one run!

As the afternoon developed everyone was enjoying the music, afternoon teas, bouncy castle, quoits games and stalls but then a huge torrential rainstorm flooded the cricket ground and forced the stall holders to pack up, and wade through giant puddles. The weather turned out far worse than the forecast, and we’d like to thank all the volunteers and organisers who persevered so stoically against the rain.

The money raised will be split between ourselves, the Corbridge Youth Initiative and the Corbridge Cricket Club – so thank you very much for your generosity.

Hats off to the dedicated volunteers who poured their time and energy into organizing the Fun Day. And of course, a massive round of applause to every single person who joined in, whether you were taking part in the matches, enjoying the stalls and food or simply spreading the word about our event. It’s all very much appreciated.

Baldy Holly revisits us for a rock and roll afternoon

Baldy Holly revisited us for a rock and roll afternoon last weekend. Baldy performed a variety of classic songs, and our residents loved the music and danced, clapped and sang alongside Avril, our volunteer.

The residents were thrilled with the musical afternoon and thanked Baldy for his performance. “It was so much fun to listen to the music and sing along,” said Margaret. “It brought back a lot of memories.”

Birgit said, “I haven’t danced in ages, but the music made me want to get up!”

Thank you to Baldy for coming to see us again – he’s a definite favourite at Charlotte Straker House.

May enjoys her day at Charlotte Straker House

May recently joined us at Charlotte Straker House as a Day Care resident. When she arrived, May joined in a session of “armchair travel” to Wales, plus a lively coffee morning with our other residents. Then she enjoyed a delicious two course lunch followed by a fun and active game of balloon tennis, followed by her choice of home baked cake and tea.

May’s daughter Gillian said, “The day care service at Charlotte Straker House is becoming a lifeline for my Mum. Charlotte Straker Day care offers a holistic approach which helps in many ways, not only with personal care but also helps her to become happier and more engaged in life. It has given her the opportunity to socialize with other people, to participate in activities that she enjoys, and to stay mentally and physically active. Thank you to Charlotte Straker for giving us this resource to support our mum’s wellbeing and for the wonderful staff who make it possible.”

Our Summer Newsletter: Not much Sun but loads of fun!

Please find enclosed our Summer Newsletter packed with our latest news, trips and days out and fundraising events:

Summer Newsletter 2023

 

Family History Research with Volunteer Sue

Thank you to Sue for volunteering to come and talk to our residents about family history. Sue organises regular family history discussions and uses an online genealogy website to research residents’ family trees.
Sue spent the morning showing her own family heirlooms that dated back to the 1800s. One of her ancestors was apprenticed to Robert Stephenson as a “locomotive engine builder” – Robert was a relative of the famous George Stephenson. She also showed us his commemorative mug which included a frog on the inside!
Muriel said, “I found the morning very interesting, and I’d like to learn more about my own family history”.

A Memorable Day by the Seaside

A group of residents had a wonderful day out at the seaside last week. They enjoyed a day of walking along Tynemouth beach, eating fish and chips and just watching the waves and enjoying the sea air. Claire’s daughter arranged for our residents to use some special beach buggies – these were great fun and the big tyres meant they were able to get onto the sand and right down to see the waves!

It was also a chance to celebrate Colin’s 90th birthday. We all visited Crusoes Restaurant on the beach and over some delicious fish and chips we watched Colin open his presents and cards. Our team gave him some model making kits of a ship and an aeroplane as Colin is such a talented model maker. He opened his cards, we all sang happy birthday and he told us that he was looking forward to a slice of his home made birthday fruit cake when he went home.

Colin had a go in the beach buggy and said “it’s wonderful to get to the water’s edge but I don’t fancy putting my feet in there today!” He added “Thank you to everyone for making my day so special, including the staff at Crusoes restaurant. I can’t believe I’m 90! It’s great when you have a party as everyone comes together, and it was lovely to spend my birthday with my family and friends”

Margaret G said “The seaside brings back lots of memories, especially because we all used to swim here once a week when I was at school.”

Ernie said “It was a lovely day, especially spending it with my niece. I’m tired now but I think that’s down to all the seaside air.”

Claire told us “I loved being in the buggy and walking along the beach with Kate. We used to do this all the time and its wonderful I can do it again.”

John added “We should do this more often! I didn’t want a go in the beach buggies myself, but they are marvellous.”

Thank you to everyone who helped us on our visit – relatives, staff and volunteers – this trip has been the highlight of the summer holidays!

Win an Apple MacBook Air when you play the Northumberland Lottery

The rain might be putting a dampener on your summer – but we’ve got something to brighten your day! By playing Northumberland Lottery during August, you will be in with a chance to win a fantastic Apple MacBook Air in their very first Super Draw!
With a slim profile and all day battery life, anything from working on the go to professional-level video editing and action-packed gaming will be a breeze – and it comes at the perfect time for the new year of school or university! Get your tickets now to be in with a chance to win this amazing prize.
Every ticket you purchase helps us as well as making a difference to the Northumberland community. Sign-up for only £1 a week, and you get the chance to win cash prizes up to £25,000 every week. We get 50p from every £1 ticket and a further 10p goes to other good causes in Northumberland.