Local resident names Shrewsbury’s newest care home
A local resident has won a competition to name a brand-new care home in Shrewsbury.
Karen Sparks, who has lived in the area for most of her life, came up with the winning entry to name the new Care UK home on Oteley Road, due to open in February 2022.
The competition called for the people who know the town best, its residents, to share suggestions which had cultural or historical reference to the local area.
The home has now officially been named ‘Oxbow Manor’ after one of the River Severn oxbows, which encircles the hill on which Shrewsbury Castle was built in 1070. As the only land entry into Shrewsbury at the time, it was a site of historical significance and designed to be a defensive site.
Peter Griffiths, Development Project Manager at Care UK, said: “The home naming process is one of the key milestones for the new home, so it was important to involve the community in the decision. All of the names put forward were of a very high quality, but we felt Oxbow Manor was original and really rooted the home in the local area, with a great reference to a key landmark – Shrewsbury Castle.
“We’re so grateful to everyone that made a name suggestion and to Karen for coming up with the winning name.”
Karen said: “I was born in Shrewsbury and one thing I recall from school geography lessons was drawing the horseshoe shape (or Oxbow) of the River Severn around the town. This came to mind as one of Shrewsbury’s key features when entering the competition.
“I was thrilled to find out I’d won the home naming competition, and I’m looking forward to visit Oxbow Manor once complete next year.”
Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, the new care home, which is set to open in February 2022, will incorporate space for hobby and leisure activities. The layout of the building will be configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities. The home will also feature a cinema, hair salon and café.
