It’s all in a name: Horndean pupils lend a helping hand to Care UK

Home news

Oct 23, 2017

Children from a local after-school club have put their heads together to name the suites at a brand new care home in Horndean.   

Children who attended the summer club at Horndean Technology College took part in a competition to name the three suites at Care UK’s new care home, Pear Tree Court.

The children came up with a list of names which have cultural or historical reference to them and the local area, and these were then whittled down to the top three by the home manager, Ray Arnold.    

When the home opens on Portsmouth Road later this year, the suites will be named after three notable figures from the area: the Gales Suite, after the Gales family who owned a Horndean brewery; the Napier Suite, named for Admiral Charles Napier the former owner of Merchistoun Hall; and the Murray suite – which Care UK added as an addition to the children’s names to celebrate Admiral Murray, a well-known local philanthropist and important figure in the town’s past.

As a thank you to those who took part, Care UK presented the winning children with individual book tokens, as well as voucher for the school to buy new books for all the children to enjoy.

Ray Arnold, home manager at Pear Tree Court, said: “As we gear up to welcome the first residents to Pear Tree Court later this year, the all-important naming of the suites within the care home is a priority, and we thought this presented an excellent opportunity to work with Horndean Technology College and its summer-holiday programme.

“It was a great opportunity to know our neighbours a little better, and the ideas the pupils put forward were all of a very high quality. We’re really pleased with the chosen three names and look forward to working with the children again in the future.”

Delia Loftus, deputy manager of Dimension Childcare at Horndean Technology College, said: “Our children really enjoyed taking part in the project which was a great opportunity to learn about the history of Horndean. They were so thrilled to win and have the suites named in their suggestions. Being involved in such a worthy intergenerational project has been great for all children.”