Gorleston care home named after historic Norfolk boat
Region’s new £6.9m specialist dementia home
A new care home being built in Gorleston is to be named the Lydia Eva Court. (L TO R) Colleen Walker, Lisa Utting – Care Home Manager, John Russell – Ship Manager and Karen Knight – Managing Director of NORSE Care. Picture: James Bass
The £6.9m specialist dementia home being built in Gorleston is to be called Lydia Eva Court, after the UK’s last surviving steam drifter.
The Lydia Eva, built in 1930 during the herring industry’s heyday, spends each summer moored at Hall Quay in Great Yarmouth as a floating museum, a tribute to the coast’s rich fishing history.
Yesterday, Lydia Eva supporters, dignitaries and volunteers stepped aboard the boat to celebrate her latest namesake.
Just last week, a 10-week-old baby was named after the drifter. Lydia Eke, daughter of Lucy Wade and Donovan Eke, was named in honour of the boat and her 93-year-old great-grandfather Charlie Wade who was sneaked on board the Lydia Eva during her sea trials in the 1930s.
The care home’s name was chosen by the people who will be moving in when it opens next summer.
Residents from Magdalen House, Clere House and Mildred Stone House were asked to vote for their favourite name from a shortlist, which included suggestions from the local community, and they plumped for one they felt fit the bill.
The new 88-bed home, which will specialise in dementia care, is being built close to the James Paget Hospital on the site of the former Peterhouse First School.
As well as communal facilities, en-suite rooms and a specially designed garden area, care home provider NorseCare said Lydia Eva Court will have better conditions for the dedicated dementia staff and more technology to enable better support for less mobile residents.
“I think it’s absolutely right the residents of the new care home should have the final say on its name and I commend them for their excellent choice,” said Colleen Walker, NorseCare board member and county councillor for Magdalen ward.
“Lydia Eva is a name that is synonymous with Norfolk’s east coast and holds great historical significance for the communities of Gorleston and Great Yarmouth.
“I know that building work is progressing well on the site and I am sure Lydia Eva Court will be a first-rate addition to current care home provision in Norfolk, as well as being an exciting new development that the people of Gorleston can be proud of.”
Alan Bagley, the chairman of the Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Trust – which has worked tireless to restore the boat and now keep it open to the public, said: “We’re so pleased the residents have chosen to name their new home after the Lydia Eva.
“She has a great history and such a strong link to the local communities.”
It was also announced yesterday that the manager of the new home will be Lisa Utting, who is currently the manager of Mildred Stone House in Lawn Avenue, Yarmouth.
She will be working across the three smaller care homes – which will all close when Lydia Eva Court opens – to ensure a smooth transition.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/gorleston_care_home_named_after_historic_norfolk_boat_1_2328524
