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Nursing students mentored by our experienced RGNs

We have had two nursing students working with us as part of their second year nursing studies at the University of Northumbria.

Cassandra and Shukria were mentored by our registered nurses Angela Chisholm and Jackie Kellett and were given practical experience in caring for the elderly. Shukria alsochatted with residents as part of a reminiscent project to learn how about how their previous lives before our care home helps inform their current care.

Paul Storey, Practice Education Facilitator at Northumbria University commented, “I’m delighted that our second year nursing students are able to gain placements at Charlotte Straker Project. The students are able to learn from their very experienced nurses, and gain a true picture of what community care involves.”

Pam Crawley, our Registered Manager, added “we’re always keen to have nursing students join our team, as it’s a great way for our very knowledgeable nurses to pass on their knowledge to the next generation. It was great to see them interacting with our residents and leading the reminiscence sessions.”

Muriel told us that “I enjoyed chatting with Shukri and Cassandra. They’re so young! It’s nice to see different people”.

 

A visit from Button the pet lamb

Our marketing coordinator brought in a pet lamb to see our residents last week.
Button has been bottle fed since she was born, and is very friendly and happy to walk on a lead. It’s almost impossible to housetrain a sheep so she wore a very fetching nappy!
Sally took her up in the lift, and into the resident rooms to say hello. Some of our residents come from farming families and had a great time reminiscing about their own lambing experiences. Gladys loved stroking Button’s fleece “I used to have pet lambs myself. I love her fleece and her little face.” Joyce fed Button a grape and gave her a cuddle saying “I’ve never seen a lamb in a nappy before! It’s made my day.” Stuart talked about the farm where he grew up Sally commented “I love to do this – it’s often difficult to coordinate as I have to gain a special licence from DEFRA, but once that’s done, it’s lovely that I can bring a lamb from our farm to visit. Button managed really well and as she thinks I’m her mum, she just trotted behind me from room to room.”

Tarka the PAT dog is a very good girl!

A dog from “Pets as Therapy” has started visiting our residents again, and everyone was overjoyed to meet Tarka and Carl (Tarka’s owner) last week. Tarka is a beautiful flat coated retriever and is very friendly and enjoys all the pats and strokes from our residents (and staff!) She visits everyone who wants to see her, and takes the time to have a chat and cuddle with each one. John B loves her visits and enjoyed reminiscing about his own dogs. Muriel said “she’s a beautiful dog. Thank you so much for bringing her in.” Thank you to Tarka and Carl for visiting us each week.

 

 

 

 

An afternoon of fishing and catching rainbow trout

A small group of residents had an exciting trip to New Mills Trout Fishing Park in Brampton last week and enjoyed a day of fishing tuition with the brilliant staff at the lake. Colin, Margaret and Stuart had a brilliant afternoon of tuition and they all each caught a rainbow trout! Stuart’s fish was so large that he spent a while wrestling with it to pull it to the bank and into the net – leading to much laughter. Colin said “I loved it. It was wonderful getting out on the bus and even though it rained, we were well wrapped up and it was lovely seeing the lake and the countryside.” Thank you to our volunteers and staff who accompanied us – we’ll definitely be booking another afternoon.

Our Summer Fete raises £1,200 for our charity

After  a break of three years the Charlotte Straker Summer Fete proved a great success last Saturday in Corbridge. The Charlotte Straker Project, opened its doors to residents in 1992 as a not-for -profit Care Home. Celebration of the 30th anniversary got off to a great start on Saturday with the fete held in the grounds of Charlotte Straker House.

Berenice Groves, Chair of the Board of Trustees said in her introduction, “I am delighted to welcome everyone to the grounds of Charlotte Straker today after a three year absence. We have managed to get through these difficult years with wonderful support from you, our local community.”

John Maude, chairman of Corbridge Cricket Club officially opened the fete briefly reflecting on the history of Corbridge since Hadrian. He mentioned that it was the same Joseph Straker who donated Charlotte Straker House to the village in 1918 to be used as a Cottage Hospital who also helped form, and was the first president of, the Corbridge Cricket Club – his passion! He commended the extraordinary efforts of staff, volunteers and trustees in the last two years and the sacrifices made on behalf of residents.

Many other charities and local good causes had stalls in this popular community event.

A beautiful afternoon was rewarded with an excellent attendance with music provided by the Sunshine Panners Steel Band. £1,250 pounds was raised on the day for CSP which will go towards a garden project.

After the event Berenice commented,

“I am delighted with today’s event. This is the first time in two years that our grounds have been open. I would like to thank everyone who attended and supported not just Charlotte Straker but also all the other good causes. It has been wonderful to see our residents and their families outside in the sun enjoying such an important occasion.”

Click on the individual photos below to see them in a large format.

 

Craft Festival at St Andrew’s Church raises over £2000 for local charities.

The two-day Textile and Art Exhibition (Craft Fest 1) held in St Andrew’s Church in Corbridge welcomed well over a thousand visitors through its doors last Thursday and Friday. Organised jointly by the Corbridge Sewing Bee and St Andrew’s Church the exhibition raised just over £2000 in donations which will be divided equally between The Charlotte Straker Project and the Church fund.

Exhibitors included local artists, lace makers, embroiderers, photographers, quilters, basket makers, crafters, sewers and knitters as well as local organisations such as the Youth Initiative, the Brownies and local schools. Visitors commented particularly on the high standard and sheer variety of work on offer and exhibitors were able to network and share ideas and inspiration for future work.

Our Chair of Trustees Berenice Groves opened the exhibition jointly with Dr David Kennedy, vicar of St Andrew’s at the well-attended preview. Berenice commented “we’re delighted that we were invited to be involved in this exhibition as it has beautifully showcased the talents of our crafty residents. We’re also extremely grateful for such a generous donation to our charity. Thank you also to Jayne, our Activities Coordinator, and the volunteers for taking so many of our residents to see the exhibition”

The Charlotte Straker residents visiting the exhibition thoroughly enjoyed the display of items including the contribution of work from Charlotte Straker House.

John B commented “the crafts absolutely filled the church. There are some very talented people in the village. It was very interesting seeing all the different bits and pieces”.

Muriel had a fantastic time and said “I loved it, and I loved seeing all the embroidery and tapestry and chatting to everyone. Some of the embroidery pieces were beautiful”.

Thank you to all exhibitors who submitted the pieces and the hard working volunteers who helped before, during and after the exhibition.

Two Volunteers attend a Special Garden Party

Our volunteers Debbie Thick and Avril McVittie were delighted to receive an invitation from the Duchess of Northumberland to a special garden party at The Alnwick Garden this month. Around 250 volunteers and carers from across the county were invited to attend with their partners or a guest, to be thanked for their hard work, dedication and commitment.

Pam Crawley, our Registered Manager commented “We were asked to nominate two of our volunteers to attend this special celebration, and we immediately decided on Avril and Debbie. They both work so hard for us and our residents, and attend every week to do the shop trolley, chat to our residents and accompany them to activities and outings. We’re very grateful for their dedication and we’re so pleased that they could be honoured in this way.”

Greggs provided a fantastic afternoon tea and guests were entertained by Robson’s Choice Northumbrian Pipers and The Vieux Carré Jazzmen.

Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland said: “There are so many extremely generous and extraordinary individuals in Northumberland who give up their time, selflessly, to help others in need.

“I hear so many moving stories of the things people do, for the benefit of others less fortunate, some working for charities, many just doing their own thing, frequently unnoticed, giving help where it is needed most. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to them for the really valuable work they do.

Debbie commented, “The Duchess made some welcome speeches and thanked everyone for coming and all the fabulous work that people had done. There was a delicious afternoon tea and then local deputies visited each of the tables to ask us about our volunteering – I was proud that they all knew about the Charlotte Straker Project, and they offered thanks and support. Following tea we were able to see the beautiful gardens and fountains and were presented with a little goodie thank you bag!”

Avril added “It was such a gorgeous day – helped by the sunny weather of course, and it felt marvellous to be able to experience such an event. A huge thank you to Pam who had nominated myself and Debbie. It was a truly memorable occasion.”

Berenice Groves, Chair of the Trustees commented “on behalf of our Board of Trustees, I’d like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers for everything they do – they are at the heart of our organisation and we couldn’t manage any of our activities without them. Volunteering is so rewarding, and if you would like to join our small family to help with any aspect at Charlotte Straker House please contact us on the details below.”

Please email us at office@charlottestraker.org.uk or call 01434 633 999 (option 1).

 

 

Our residents display their crafting skills

A raffle and competition is being held as part of the Craft and Textile Exhibition at St Andrew’s Church on
Thursday 23rd June 2022 9.30am to 8.30pm and Friday 24th June, 9.30am to 4.00pm. Each exhibitor has given a prize for the raffle, and the Crafty Women have donated a beautiful handmade quilt. Raffle tickets are only £1 each and can be bought at the event. There is also a competition to win a gorgeous sage green quilted cushion – guess the correct number of stitches to win!

Our residents have been asked if they would like to display any of their own crafts to the Exhibition and we’ve had some wonderful entries. The photo shows Colin working to finish a very intricate model of a fishing boat which he is submitting. Other submissions include a decoupage bowl, an oil painting, crewel tapestry and very delicate lace and tatting work – all from previous or current residents of our care home. Our residents will also be visiting the Exhibition – we look forward to seeing you there.

Our Summer Fete at Charlotte Straker House – 2nd July 2pm to 4pm

Our Summer Fete is being held on Saturday 2nd July in the Charlotte Straker gardens, from 2pm to 4pm.
It will be packed full of stalls including second hand books, cakes, handmade items from the Crafty Women, toys and gifts. There will be stalls from other charities plus a children’s corner with games and a raffle and tombola. Refreshments will include ice cream, teas and coffees and our charity beer.
All are welcome – and proceeds will go towards the refurbishment of our garden and outside areas. Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Our residents are benefiting from a new exercise programme

Ann Robinson, Health and Wellbeing Manager from Age UK Northumberland visited Charlotte Straker House to launch a brand new exercise programme for our residents. It’s called HowFit, has been created by doctors, physiotherapists and personal trainers, and encourages users to start a plan of very simple exercises, just for a few minutes every day. Ann carried out an initial assessment of our residents to measure their mobility and then led us all in a series of very simple exercises. We marched and stretched arms and legs and did some knee lifts and neck bends and pretended we were walking to Corbridge, all whilst sat in our chairs and wheelchairs. The idea is to improve our resident’s flexibility, strength and balance. Everyone agreed that they felt tired after the exercises but would practice them every day. “As long as we have a cup of coffee afterwards!” commented Muriel. After the exercises we had a cup of tea and a good chat and reminisced about the sports that everyone used to play: Margaret Y, Jessie and Margaret S played hockey and netball; John liked cricket and rugby and Colin and Muriel were both keen cyclists. Ann told us that she would do another assessment after a few weeks and the results would be sent to the NHS North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Newcastle Gateshead CCG, as part of a project to measure how simple, regular exercises can improve care home residents’ health and stability.