It’s all in a name: Sutton Coldfield pupils lend a helping hand to Mercia Grange

Home news

Dec 21, 2017

A local primary school has named the suites at the brand new care Mercia Grange.

Pupils from Hollyfield Primary School took part in a competition to name the three suites at Care UK’s new care home, Mercia Grange on Lichfield Road.

The children put their heads together to come up with a list of names that have cultural or historical reference to them and the local area, and these were then whittled down to the top three by the Care UK team.    

When Mercia Grange opens early this year, the suites will be known as: the ‘Wilson Suite, named after William Wilson, who designed and worked on many of the iconic buildings in and around Sutton Coldfield in the 17th century; the ‘Sixsmith Suite, in celebration of local Team GB hockey player Jane Sixsmith; and the ‘Jerrard Suite, commemorating the WWI veteran from Sutton Coldfield, flight Lieutenant Alan Jerrard, who received the Victoria Cross medal for his bravery.  

Care UK presented the winning children with individual book tokens say thank you for all their hard work.

Mercia Grange home manager, Kevin Allen, said: “As we gear up to welcome the first residents to the home early this year, the all-important naming of the suites within the care home is a priority. This presented an excellent opportunity to work with Hollyfield Primary School again, after they did such a fantastic job creating artwork for the hoardings which surround the site.

“The ideas the pupils put forward were all of a very high quality, and we’re really pleased with the chosen four names.”

Mrs Dhaliwal, Year 3 class teacher at the school, added: “We were thrilled when Care UK asked to work with us again on this exciting new venture here in Sutton Coldfield. The children had a great time researching local history, and thinking of notable people and events, to help them come up with three great suite names.”