Shrewsbury pupils get crafting to support new care home

Children have created eye-catching pieces of artwork to brighten the walls of Shrewsbury’s newest care home.

Care UK’s new care home in Shrewsbury, Oxbow Manor, has worked with pupils at Mereside C of E to create a special artwork to decorate the home’s marketing suite. Picture by Shaun Fellows / Shine Pix Ltd

Pupils from Mereside CE Primary School were invited by Care UK to get creative with a piece of artwork around the theme of ‘who do you care about?’.

The artwork is now on display in the new marketing suite at Oxbow Manor, on Oteley Road, as the care home gets ready to open its doors for the first time.

The multi-million-pound, purpose-built care home will provide full-time residential, nursing and specialist dementia care for up to 80 older people in Shrewsbury and beyond, and is due to open in January.

Lindsey Quegan, Home Manager at Oxbow Manor, said: “We were delighted to collaborate with Mereside CE Primary School on a fantastic art project to decorate the walls of Oxbow Manor.

“With the school just a stone’s throw away from the home, we’re excited to start building a long-lasting relationship with one of our neighbours, and we’re looking forward to working with them on more creative projects once we start welcoming the first residents in January.

“On behalf of everyone at Oxbow Manor, I’d like to say a big thank you to all the children who lent their creative talents to the home, there are certainly some budding young artists in our midst.”

Naomi Andrews, Class Teacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator at Mereside CE Primary School, said: “We were thrilled to take part in Care UK’s creative project for their new home in Shrewsbury. The children had a great time creating the artwork and loved seeing it displayed for everyone to see.

"We’re looking forward to building on this new relationship with Oxbow Manor, and hope this is the start of a budding new friendship between the school and the care home.”

Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, the new care home, which is set to open in January 2023, will incorporate space for hobby and leisure activities, and feature its own cinema, café and hair salon.