On the 20th March every year activities take place to empower people with the knowledge, tools and confidence to secure good oral health. This year at Mary & Joseph House our Oral Health Champion Jen, contacted local dentists and local supermarket Morrisons asking for support in providing items for Oral Health “goody bags” that we could distribute to our residents to raise awareness of the importance of good oral hygiene – the result was amazing, we were overwhelmed by their generosity Residents and staff were also joined by Sue who is an Oral Health Improvement Practitioner, Sue was tested prior to coming to the home, wore PPE and kept socially distanced in order to deliver a very interesting training session to our residents, Sue was available to answer all the residents questions (and there was lots) Our catering team also excelled themselves, providing healthy, nutritious “watermelon pizza” that not only tasted great but looked amazing

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Tuesday 23 March was a special day – bringing people from all backgrounds, communities, and all parts of the UK together, to reflect on the tragic loss of life we’ve all felt over the last year and support all those who are grieving. Residents and staff at Mary & Joseph House joined hundreds of organisations and millions of people who paused for a minute’s silence at midday Together, we were able to make this day special for the millions who’ve been bereaved and take time to celebrate the lives of the people they’re grieving for

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Also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is China’s most important festival. It starts from the beginning of Spring and marks the end of winter, and a new year on the lunar calendar, as well as the desire for a new life. In China, the occasion is a public holiday and people usually enjoy a whole week to celebrate 2021 is a year of the Ox – the second of the 12-year cycle of animals in Chinese astrology -starting from 12 February (Chinese lunar New Year Day) and lasting until 30 January 2022. In Chinese culture, the Ox is a valued animal because of its role in agriculture, and similarly in the zodiac, the Ox is seen as hardworking, positive and honest.

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Mary and Joseph House have purchased nine online concerts for everyone to enjoy, in spite of these extraordinary times, with concert halls currently closed and live audiences sadly excluded, we are thrilled to be able to share with our residents a Winter Season of nine unique concerts at the Bridgewater Hall

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Dignity Action Day is an annual opportunity for health and social care workers, and members of the public to uphold people’s rights to dignity and provide a truly memorable day for people who use care services.  This years celebration of the Dignity in Care Campaign Day at Mary & Joseph House was all about – Soups of the world, Andy (Therapeutic Activity Co-Ordinator and his sous chefs residents “Daniel and John” created three fantastic soups for everyonePea & Ham, Scotch Broth and Tomato , Andy wanted to thank both of them for their hard work, chopping and preparing the vegetables and ensuring they wore the correct PPE and following all food hygiene guidance, a questionnaire was given to all the residents that tasted the soups and the winner was announced – Pea & Ham (which was a recipe from the aunty of one of the staff, a great day was had by all

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We are pleased to say that 36 residents and 37 staff have now had their first dose of the vaccine.  I am sure you will agree that this is a huge step forward. The vaccine helps to build up immunity to the virus, so your body will fight it off more easily if it affects you, if you do get COVID-19 it can make the symptoms milder. It has been a great team effort in ensuring that everything went smoothly on the day and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Five Oaks Family Practice for their support

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As we leave 2020 and ring in 2021 we would like to applaud our residents, their families and their friends for their resilience and their trust, every one of us has had to face up to things we could never have expected and together we did it, and we will continue to do everything in our power to keep your loved ones safe We would like to applaud the staff at Mary and Joseph House, throughout the pandemic the house has remained COVID free, this has only been possible because of our well trained staff, through their skill and experience, their kindness and compassion We wish you a very happy New Year! We know that this past year has been full of challenges, and we pray that the coming year brings more certain times for all of us.

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This year, at Mary & Joseph House, we were treated to a bit of theatre and were given a Christmas Show to remember! Staff and residents joined forces to put on our very own in-house performance of the pantomime, ‘Cinderella’. After what has been a challenging year for many, a bit of light hearted festive cheer and comic relief was exactly what we all needed! The show was full of in-jokes, pantomime clichés, audience participation and some very dubious dancing!! A huge effort was put in by all who took part; from script writing, prop making, costume design, stage design and music, catering, and not to mention the many hours of rehearsals! We would like to thank all the residents and members of staff who took the time to create such a fantastic theatre atmosphere. We were blown away by the performances from every cast member, and by the end our cheeks were hurting from all the laughing. ‘Cinderella’ certainly brightened everyone’s mood! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Current status – our home continues to remain Covid free since March 2020Mary and Joseph House have put in place a range of rigorous measures to help reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection within our homes, and to protect the physical and emotional wellbeing of our residents and the staff team around them.National Lockdown – Visiting – latest information• We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, following public health advice.• We are currently facilitating Window visits – the visiting space is used by only one resident and visiting party at a time, and is subject to regular enhanced cleaning between each visit, visitor to sanitise hands and wear face covering throughout the visit.• Each of our residents has a visiting plan that is based on an assessment of risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as the potential benefits of visits, we will work with residents, families and health professionals to strike a good balance between the benefits of visiting and the infection risks that arise from increased interactions of visitors, residents and staff. What are we actively doing?Reducing infection riskInfection control is vital to keep everyone inside our homes safe and healthy. And with this in mind we have put in place a number of enhanced measures to help reduce our risk:• Enhanced cleaning – we have increased our housekeeping team and the regularity of all our cleaning and sanitising procedures.• Plentiful PPE – we ensure we have enough PPE to stock our care home for at least a month.• Testing – All staff members and consenting residents are subject to regular temperature checks and COVID tests to ensure cases are picked up early.• High staff to resident ratio – we have enough staff on the ground to maintain the safety and security of our homes, even in the case of illness absence.• Flu vaccination – We received the Gold Flu Vaccination Award run by NHS England with an uptake of 86% of our staffInfection Control LeadThe home has a lead for infection control that is able to co-ordinate staff training and be responsible for ensuring that the…

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Mary & Joseph House is proud to announce that John Cox (Chairman of The Trustees of The Joseph Cox Charity) has been awarded A Knighthood of the order of St Gregory the Great-Commander with star John, Johanne (Chair of the Managment Committee) and Julie (Home Manager – Mary & Joseph House John was nominated for this award for his work over the last 43 years with the Joseph Cox Charity which was started in 1963 by Johns father Joseph Cox, John took over as chairman of the charity in 1977 when his father sadly passed away, John has been the key figure in the success of the charity and Mary and Joseph House for the last 43 years John is an unassuming man who has never sought credit or praise for his charity work, but continues to devote himself to this cause despite his 90 years The Order of St. Gregory the Great is one of the five Orders of Knighthood of the Holy See. The honour is bestowed upon Roman Catholic men and women (and sometimes in rare cases to non-Catholics) in recognition of their personal service to the Holy See and to the Roman Catholic Church, through their unusual labours, their support of the Holy See, and their excellent examples set forth in their communities and their countries. Knight Commander with Star (KC*SG) The motto of the Order of St. Gregory the Great is Pro Deo et Principe (“For God and Ruler”).

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