On her second visit to the 16-acre site on the banks of the river Mersey, the Princess Royal formally unveiled the new Trinity House Hub, a £4.1m project to build 18 fully-accessible apartments for older seafarers and their dependants, along with community facilities including a café, a spa, a gym and rooms for meetings and hobbies.
The Trinity House Hub has been built as part of a programme of new developments at Mariners’ Park, which has been providing support and services to seafarers in need since 1857 and presently provides accommodation for 160 retired seafarers and their dependants.
The programme included a new care home – which was opened by the Princess Royal in 2002 – and new flats and bungalows for retired seafarers.
The Deputy Master of Trinity House, Captain Ian McNaught, said 'Throughout our 500 years we have had at the core of our organisation the principal of serving the mariner, past present and future. These new facilities are excellent and I am extremely pleased we have been able to contribute over £2m to provide them. They are a great legacy and will provide former mariners and their dependants with comfortable communal spaces that contribute to the feeling of community here for many years to come.'
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson told guests at the opening event: ‘I believe that this building will provide a suitable commemoration for this anniversary for many decades to come.’
He said the new facilities would provide high quality accommodation and care services to many residents, as well as communal facilities available to them and everyone else in Mariners’ Park and the local maritime community.
Notes To Editors
The Corporation of Trinity House
As the UK’s largest self-funded maritime charity, The Corporation of Trinity House donated approximately £6.5m to charitable causes in the financial year ending in March 2013 - of which over £2m went to supporting the Trinity House Hub at Mariners’ Park Estate.
The safety of shipping and the wellbeing of seafarers have been the prime concerns of the Corporation ever since Trinity House was granted a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1514.
Today Trinity House has three distinct functions:
- the General Lighthouse Authority (GLA) for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. The remit is to provide aids to navigation to assist the safe passage of a huge variety of vessels through some of the busiest sea-lanes in the world.
- a charitable organisation dedicated to the safety, welfare and training of mariners.
- a Deep Sea Pilotage Authority providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters.
Nautilus International
Nautilus International is the trade union and professional organisation for some 23,000 maritime professionals including shipmasters (captains), officers, officer trainees (cadets) and other shipping industry personnel, such as ship pilots, inland navigation workers, vessel traffic services operators (similar to air traffic control), harbourmasters, seafarers in the oil and gas industry, yacht crew and shore-based staff.
The head office is in London, but the organisation also has regional offices in Wallasey, Rotterdam and Basel.
Mariners’ Park
Mariners’ Park is a 15-acre site on the banks of the Mersey and has the design and setting of a small village community. It provides the location for a 32-bed Registered Care Home providing residential, nursing and respite/short stay care, and 104 homes. A variety of homes is available but includes flats and bungalows for single seafarers and bungalows and semi-detached houses for couples.
The estate is home to some 160 former seafarers and their dependants, was founded in 1857 by the Mercantile Marine Association to provide accommodation for Merchant Navy seafarers. In the years since then, successive generations of trustees have developed new services and facilities to ensure that the union’s welfare provision is appropriate and provides the best possible standard of accommodation and care for former seafarers.
In planning for the 21st century, the current generation of trustees approved a phased Development Plan in 1999. This Plan led, in 2002, to the building of Mariners Park Care Home (opened in September 2002 by The Princess Royal) and 14 flats. A further 10 new purpose-built and designed bungalows were completed in 2009.
The Trinity House Hub represents the latest milestone in the progress of the Plan. By the provision of the Hub Nautilus Welfare Fund seeks to provide a meeting place and focus for the community on Mariners’ Park and the wider maritime community in the Merseyside area. Whilst providing a place where seafaring traditions and life can be celebrated, it will also be a base from which services, which support and care, can be delivered. This new provision actively responds to the Maritime Charities Funding Group report - Supporting Seafarers and their Families Challenges for the Future 2007 - which noted the level of social isolation amongst former seafarers.
The Trinity House Hub
The Trinity House Hub was designed by Pozzoni Architects and includes community facilities such as a café, a spa, a gym, meeting and hobby rooms, along with 18 fully-accessible apartments for older seafarers and their dependants.
The location was a key driver in deciding the aesthetic of the architecture and includes the nautical theme of the park and the local architecture of Wallasey and New Brighton. The glazed façade curves to follow the road and creates active frontage, as well as offering clear views of the Mersey estuary. The scheme is laid out around a radial spinal corridor, making it easy to navigate around. The structure allows for adaptation in the future, if required. Communal rooms on the ground floor have doors to the outside, ensuring good use of the external space, with public and private areas clearly delineated. On the third floor of the building is an observation deck for residents’ use.
The position of the building has maximised the surrounding mature trees within the grounds and overhangs have been designed into the structure, creating shading. These measures minimise energy demand.
The sustainability philosophy for the building is to maximise the thermal fabric of the building, creating a thermally efficient building envelope. This reduces the energy demand of the building, its running costs and the association carbon emissions.
In addition to the 18 apartments, The Hub provides:
Community Space
Currently Mariners’ Park has limited community space and this larger community space will enable the majority of residents to come together to take part in the many celebrations and events which form part of the annual activities programme on Mariners’ Park. With views over the Mersey, this room will enable seafaring memories to continue, whilst watching the shipping on the Mersey.
Café
A restaurant, serviced by a fully equipped kitchen, will provide a service which provides the opportunity to lunch at a time of choice, with a menu of choice, in company.
Meeting Rooms
These will be used for a variety of purposes. For example, this will enable the staff of Nautilus Welfare Fund and our partner organisations, such as SAIL, to advise and support former seafarers and their dependants who may need access to welfare benefits advice and other services provided by both the maritime community and also the wider statutory and voluntary community.
Wellbeing
This will be provided by means of a gym, therapies room (e.g. chiropody and physiotherapy), hairdresser, spa bathroom and assisted bathroom. Trained staff will be provided.
Internet
Internet access is available throughout the Hub by Wi-Fi, including in all apartments. Printing facilities will also be available.
Laundry
This will allow residents to do their own laundry or, as required, laundry undertaken on their behalf by support workers.
The Nautilus Welfare Fund
The stated objective of Nautilus Welfare Fund is: To provide a High Quality Cost Effective Service to Needy Seafarers and their Dependants. In order to achieve this objective Nautilus Welfare Fund provides:
- Accommodation for those able to live independently (Mariners’ Park Estate properties)
- Residential services (nursing and respite/short break care at Mariners’ Park Care Home)
- Supporting Independent living (advice grants, support and care to live at home on a national basis)
- Developing new services that respond to fully researched needs
Beneficiaries of Nautilus Welfare Fund are former career Merchant Navy seafarers of all ranks and/or their dependants who can demonstrate a need which may be health, social or financial. All applicants applying for accommodation at Mariners Park must fulfil one or more of these criteria.
Recent achievements
Last year saw the establishment of the Men’s Activities post at Mariners’ Park, and this one-year project commenced in August 2013. The part-time project worker is employed by Age UK Wirral, and aims to develop a wide range of activities for mariners - both those living at Mariners’ Park and in the wider community. The aim is to combat social isolation and loneliness, whilst also promoting health and wellbeing. Half-way through the project there are positive signs of the benefit for mariners with typically four activities organised each week, ranging from a computer club to a ‘Big Match’ night to talks from local experts and visits to places of interest.
The Charity is also involved in the commissioning and management of a new demographic study to look at the future needs of mariners, up to 2050. Oxford Brookes University is undertaking the research and the final report will be available in May 2014. It is hoped this will help all maritime charities plan for future service needs.
A key development in 2013 was the expansion of the Caseworker Service beyond Merseyside to also embrace the Hull and Southampton areas, with caseworkers being employed in both these locations. There has also been significant progress in raising awareness of the services of the Welfare Fund, with the development and launch of a new welfare website (www.nautiluswelfare.org) and a new suite of information leaflets describing the various services available.
The Charity also continued the ongoing review of the MCFG Report, Supporting Seafarers and their Families: Challenges for the Future and how the relevant recommendations can be implemented.
Plans for the complete refurbishment of the Care Home were also drawn up and work started in late October 2013. A significant grant from the Merchant Navy Welfare Board has contributed to this work. On completion of the work in April 2014, it is planned to re-designate an 8-bedded wing as a specialist dementia service, ensuring the Nautilus Welfare Fund can support retired mariners regardless of their needs.
The Nautilus Welfare Fund offers both one off and regular grants to retired seafarers and their dependents. The grants are means tested and are available to people living across the UK. In 2013 regular grants and one off payments totalling £180,000 were made.