Feature
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Old Nurses Home mem The Trust’s plans for two new hospitals on the Leeds General Infirmary site will mean the demolition of the Old Nurses Home building - one of the first to go when work gets under way later this year. The building dates back to the late 1800s but was officially opened as a nurses home in October 1937 by the Princess Royal. It had room for 150 nurses - with thousands of trainees having passed through its corridors and used its facilities over the years. Starting their nurse training was for many young women their first venture away from their parental home and, for some, moving to Leeds was a daunting prospect. Qualifying and getting a prized Leeds nursing badge and certificate was a real achievement as the training at the city’s hospitals was – and still is - highlyregarded and opened doors to more opportunities in nursing. The past will be making way for the future with the new hospital buildings delivering state-of-the-art facilities in the centre of Leeds, but for many nurses their memories of the Old Nurses Home will never fade. Living in the Nurses Home most definitely had happy memories for Linda Dakin (nee Brown) - it’s where she met her husband John. Linda was just 18 when she left her home in Hull to start her nursing career – 50 years ago this year. She said they used to hold discos in the large TV room at the nurses home and at one of them she met John, her husband of 47 years. “He would meet me at the bottom of the stairs in the entrance hall and bring me back before 10:30pm. If we were late I had to sit in the casualty department and wait for the night warden to let me in.” Her eldest daughter Lucy followed her mother’s career by starting her nurse training when she was 18. She currently works at the LGI as a Cardiac Research Nurse. “It was both scary and exciting seeing Lucy choose a career in nursing as training had changed so much, but it was always wonderful to listen to her experiences and watch her grow in confidence,” said Linda. Edwina Gerry did her training from 1970-
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