Our New Remembrance Garden

We held a special Remembrance Service this month to commemorate all those residents and staff members who passed away at Charlotte Straker House during the early months of the Covid pandemic. We were honoured to welcome Mrs Rodrica Straker, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland who officially opened a new Remembrance Garden in the grounds of Charlotte Straker House, plus the Rev. David Kennedy who blessed the garden as part of the commemorative service.

Berenice Groves, Chair of the Trustees gave an introductory speech, and Vicky Hogg, a member of the care team read a poem called “Farewell my Friends”, before Mrs Straker unveiled the new plaque in the Remembrance Garden.

Berenice commented, “On behalf of our all our trustees, I would like to thank all those who came to share in our service of reflection and remembrance. We’ve had a lot of discussions on how to pay tribute to our much loved residents and staff and we hope everyone will agree that this new flower garden is a simple and beautiful way to remember their lives. Thank you to the Rev. Kennedy and Mrs Straker who joined us at the service, and the relatives, residents, families and volunteers who helped us commemorate their loved ones and the sacrifices everyone made during the dark days of the Covid pandemic. I hope that the new garden will offer a space for peaceful reflection and help people remember the feelings of love and support that they received from our staff and the wider community, and their continued care and attention that continues to help us all today.”

The Covid pandemic has also had had a serious and significant impact on our residents and staff, as well as curtailing our fundraising opportunities, so we are currently trying to raise funds to maintain our core services. We are 30 successful years in operation as Charlotte Straker Project, such a special charity to be involved in. You can donate to our fundraising appeals at www.charlottestraker.org.uk/donate/