The Trinity House Maritime Charity has approved a substantial grant to The Nautilus Welfare Fund to support the latest phase to develop the accommodation and welfare facilities at the 15-acre Mariners’ Park Estate at Wallasey.
This is part of a £4m-plus project to boost welfare provision for former seafarers and their dependants.
The project ― which will be formally opened in 2014 ― will involve the construction of a new community facility for the 160 residents of the Estate and also for the wider Merseyside maritime community.
The project will include a community space for meetings and events, a drop-in café, a shop, a laundry and a hairdressing salon, as well as internet access throughout the building.
It will also provide improved specialist accommodation and in-house support services for retired seafarers and their dependants. The first phase of the project will provide 12 two-bedroom flats and six one-bedroom apartments, designated as Extra Care Sheltered Accommodation for former seafarers and dependants requiring assistance with daily living.
The project has been drawn up by Nautilus as part of a long-term development plan in response to research into the care and welfare needs of the UK’s retired seafarers and their families.
“This will be a major milestone in the long and proud history of Mariners’ Park,”’ said Nautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson. “We have been providing vital support and assistance at this site since the middle of the 19th century and this development will ensure that those services will continue to meet the needs of former seafarers well into the 21st century.”
