Paget worker's relief as stolen bike replaced through auction
Lorraine Calver receives the bike from Michaela Davis, right - Credit: Michaele Davis
A hospital worker whose bike was stolen from her place of work has been given a replacement thanks to a beach hut auction.
Lorraine Calver had left her bike locked up outside Gorleston's James Paget University Hospital on Monday, September 6, but was stunned to find it had been stolen when she finished work.
Without her bike the emergency assessment and discharge unit worker had to rely on lifts to get to and from work from her home in East Anglian Way in Gorleston.
An aerial view of the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston. - Credit: James Paget University Hospitals
However her week of relying on others came to an end on Saturday after she was presented with a new bike bought from Halfords after a fundraising drive was set up by a beach hut owner.
Michaela Davies, of Gorleston's Bertie and Bettie Boutique Beach Huts, heard of Mrs Calver's plight and set up a Facebook competition offering a beach hut for a day next year as a prize.
The fundraiser saw about 80 people take part trying to win the prize and soon enough funds poured in to buy a new bike.
Mrs Calver said: "I can't put into words how grateful I am. I can't say thank you enough.
"Without a bike I had to rely on my dad or a colleague to get to work. Just having a bike again makes a real difference.
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"I had attached my bike to the bike shed at the hospital with two locks, when I came out of work one had been cut and my bike was gone."
The new bike was handed over on Saturday.
Bertie and Bettie Boutique Beach Huts was set up last year by mother and son entrepreneurs Ms Davies and Alex Davies, from Bradwell.
Ms Davies, who has been treated at the James Paget for cancer, has raised funds for the NHS during lockdown and when she heard of Mrs Calver's situation she leapt into action.
She said: "NHS workers are heroes and I could not believe when I saw what had happened to her. It is wonderful to see her back on a bike again - it is a lifeline for her."
Norfolk bike theft hotspots
Data from Norfolk Police reveals that from 2018 to July 2021 nearly 4,000 bikes were reported as stolen across Norfolk.
The figures break down as 1,260 in 2018, 1,403 om 2019, 877 in 2020 and 416 up July 8, 2021 - a total of 3,956.
Norwich East shows up as the area targeted most by bike thieves accounting for 1,196 thefts, the city as a whole reporting 2,089 of the total.
Other hot spots are to be found in the main urban areas, Yarmouth totting up 378 thefts, and King's Lynn North and Gaywood 458.
Charges were made in 126 cases.
