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Pam walks 100 miles for Macmillan

Pam, our Registered Manager, is taking part in the “100 Miles for Cancer” and will be taking part in a challenge to walk 100 miles throughout October to fundraise for Macmillan Cancer.

She said “its going to be hard work, but I really wanted to do something to fundraise for such a good cause – it’s also a good way to get fit!

We are always happy to support any fundraising efforts for charities chosen by our staff.

You can donate to Pam’s challenge at her fundraising site https://www.facebook.com/donate/965659164011965/
– good luck to Pam during her challenge!

Our monthly Residents’ Meeting

Last week, Pam, our Registered Manager and Jayne, our Activities Coordinator, joined in the monthly Residents Meeting and chatted with Kathy, Margaret, Muriel and Colin to discuss ideas for activities, outings and other resident business, over a slice of cake and a cup of tea. We’ll be updating you soon with their ideas and suggestions – watch this space :)

Coffee, quizzing and chat

We have begun daily coffee sessions in our upstairs and downstairs lounges, which are a great chance for our residents to meet, chat, and enjoy a home baked biscuit and slice of cake. This week we combined a coffee morning with a quiz which was won by the joint team of residents Margaret and Muriel. Our marketing coordinator, Sally, was also part of the team, and managed to come last, even after some help from resident Colin! Some of the questions were pretty difficult, such as “Bobitie is the national dish of which country?” (Answer: South Africa), and which flower does saffron come from (Answer: Crocus). Colin said “this has been really very nice, and I’ve enjoyed it. It’s good to meet up and keep the grey cells ticking over.” These coffee sessions will be held every day, and are open to all residents.

Jimmy enjoys a birthday dram

Congratulations to our lovely resident Jimmy, who celebrated his 90th birthday last week. He enjoyed a wonderful party with friends and family sitting outside in the sunshine and loved opening his cards and presents. Everyone sang happy birthday and enjoyed a slice of a birthday cake made by Debbie, our Head Cook. Jimmy loves a dram of whisky so the Charlotte Straker team bought him a rather nice bottle so that he could toast his special birthday in style. He told us “I enjoyed it very much, but I’m happy to have a quiet day after such an exciting weekend”. Happy Birthday Jimmy from all our staff, trustees and volunteers.

Tynedale Gift Fair 2021

The TYNEDALE GIFT FAIR is back for 2021 and has a new home at the Tynedale Farmer Function Suite at the Hexham Mart. This year, the ladies of the Tynedale Hunt are supporting their chosen charities, the Great North Air Ambulance and the Compassionate Friends.

MONDAY 1st November 3pm—7.30pm
TUESDAY 2nd November 9.30am—3pm

There will be a fantastic range of unique high quality stalls for early Christmas shopping and the cafe will be open for lunch and afternoon tea. All the stalls are on the ground floor and there is easy disabled access.

Admission is only £3—payable at the door, no booking required and plenty of free parking.

Our Crafty Women will have their own stall selling wonderful hand made Christmassy and crafty items, with all proceeds going towards our charity.

For more information please visit www.tynedalegiftfair.co.uk

Apple Pressing in Aid of our Respite Care Bed

Thank you to all those who came down to the Corbridge Cricket Club this weekend with all their spare apples! John Maude, of the Corbridge Cricket Club and helpers spent two days pressing apples to produce over 1,000 cans of juice, which will be sold in aid of ourselves and the Corbridge Youth Initiative. The juice is being produced by Andy Burrows from the Hadrian Border Brewery, who are planning to provide the cans of apple juice at cost price, which will then be sold at outlets in Corbridge, including the Corbridge Larder. Amazingly, John and his team have used well over 1,000kg of locally grown apples which would otherwise have gone to waste.

Thank you to John, Andy and all those volunteers who helped with the washing, pulping and pressing of the apples. We’ll let you know how many cans of juice they produced and exactly when it will go on sale.

A Harvest Gift from St Oswald’s Church in Halton

A thank you to parishioners of St Oswald’s Church in Halton who gave us an enormous box of fresh fruit and vegetables from their Harvest Festival over the weekend. It’s lovely that such a small church decided to donate to our residents, and they can be assured that the box contents will be used in many of nutritious and tasty home made dishes over the next few days. Alice, our Receptionist, is pictured with the box, before dropping it off with our Head Cook who will put it to very good use!

Running to raise money for our Respite Bed.

Alex Gordon, son of our trustee Maureen Gordon, ran the Kielder marathon on Sunday, on behalf of our Respite Care Bed.
Alex is a keen runner, and enjoyed running in such a scenic setting, especially as he has spent a lot of weekends in Kielder with family and friends. Alex now lives in Glasgow, but his mum and dad live in Hexham, and he is very keen to support our charity, recognising the importance of the respite care bed to residents and families in the area.
If you would like to donate to Alex’s challenge, please find a link to his Virgin Moneyrising money donation page below.

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlexGordon23

Booster Vaccines from the “Roving Vaccination Unit”

We were delighted to welcome a visit last week by a special NHS funded pop up “Roving Vaccination Unit” vehicle, which arrived in the carpark at Charlotte Straker House to give our eligible residents and staff members their Covid booster injections.
The Unit has been set up by the Village Surgery Cramlington (and is supported by the Northumberland CCG and the Cramlington and Seaton Valley PCN) to vaccinate those most at risk in rural Northumberland. The unit is managed by David Shannon, the Managing Partner of the Village Surgery in Cramlington.
David and his team of two nurses, a community paramedic and a health care assistant used our Visitor Pod to vaccinate all our residents and staff members who were eligible for the booster vaccination (which was dependent on the date they had their second vaccination).
David said, “The van been specifically modified to ensure we can reach all vulnerable and at-risk groups in the community and so far, the reaction to the new vehicle has been overwhelmingly positive. We have already given booster vaccines to care homes in Cramlington, but Charlotte Straker House is the first care home in this area to receive a visit from our Vaccination Unit. It was wonderful to meet the Charlotte Straker residents and staff today and we’ll be back for a second visit to ensure that everyone who lives and works here receives their booster injection.”
Berenice Groves, Chair of the Trustees added, “I am so pleased that David and his team visited Charlotte Straker House as this shows our commitment to ensuring all our staff and residents are protected as much as possible from this horrible virus. The introduction of the van means that none of our vulnerable residents need to travel to a vaccination centre or risk encountering any positive cases and ensures that everyone receives the booster, and no one will miss out on the vaccination. It’s a fantastic example of the local GP service working in collaboration with care homes, and I’m proud that Charlotte Straker House was one of the first chosen to receive a visit from the Roving Unit.”

Colin enjoying our brand new jigsaw table

Our resident Colin has been making full use of our brand new jigsaw table, which was bought with donated funds. The table has a felt non slip surface and can be fixed at any angle to make it easy to reach puzzle pieces. Colin said “It’s great and I can fit all the pieces on the table plus the box, so I can see what I’m doing!” Thank you to those who have donated to our charity, to allow us to buy furniture and equipment which helps our residents enjoy their hobbies.