Pam, our Registered Manager, brought in an interesting item to show everybody at a coffee morning last week. She was given an example of a 24-hour ration pack for a British soldier, and thought it was a great opportunity for our residents to look through contents of the pack. Sally, the Marketing Manager and Laura, a Domestic Assistant, helped share the contents so that everyone could see.

Our residents were fascinated by how everything was carefully packed including matches, energy drinks, meals and snacks. Sally explained how one pack was designed to sustain a solider out on a 24 hour exercise, and the meals were nutritious and easy to eat but definitely lack something in the presentation department!

Claire tasted the oat biscuits and said “they’re quite nice – dry but still tasty”. Muriel sampled the cheese spread, and said it was “smooth and a bit plasticky”, whilst Colin happily ate the peanuts and chatted about how rations had changed since the 2nd World War. Our day care resident Arthur talked about how soldiers heated up their meals in the trenches in World War 1 which led onto a group discussion about how soldiers boil water for tea or coffee whilst out in the field.

Thank you to Pam for bringing in the rations – they gave our residents a glimpse into military life, as well as being a great way to spark conversation and learn more about their experiences.

Our new head chef Helen is baking up a storm! She is always coming up with new and delicious recipes to tempt our residents’ taste buds. Her latest creation was a batch of mouth-watering breakfast muffins, which were packed with fresh ingredients, full of flavour and very popular with our residents. The muffins are also a great source of protein and fibre making them the perfect way to start the day.

In addition to muffins, Helen also makes a variety of other cakes and pastries, all of which are equally scrumptious. Pauline, a member of our office team, is shown with one of our residents’ favourite desserts – a tray of chocolate and vanilla mini cakes with fresh cream and strawberries. We can confirm that they were absolutely delicious!

We’re delighted to announce that our supporters Josephine and Michael Riley are planning to run the Scarborough 10k on 15^th October 2023, to raise funds for our charity.

They are fundraising on behalf of Charlotte Straker House, as a family friend was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and has recently moved into in our care home.

They say “Wendy, a dear friend of ours, has had a recent diagnosis of MND which has been a complete and devastating shock to her and her friends and family. She is currently being supported by this amazing charity who are providing care and support for her while she comes to terms with her diagnosis and all that comes with it.”

If you would like to support the Riley family in their fundraising efforts, you can donate here:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/josephine-dargan-riley-1693935269896

Thank you so much to the Riley family for their support – and good luck with their training!

#mnd #fundraising #scarborough10k #motorneuronedisease #running

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!