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Linda van Nooijen. Copyright Michelle Sank

Linda van Nooijen

Growing up in a seafaring family, Linda van Nooijen, born 1947, was surrounded by the stories and experiences of travelling; from her grandfather who was employed as a mariner to her uncles working as Cunard Yanks bringing back "wonderful things from America". Being surrounded by the 'big tales' of travel fuelled Linda's desire to see the world and looking back she remembers "all I ever wanted to do was go to sea".

Linda soon realised that enthusiasm and commitment wouldn't be enough and that working at sea had its own set of rules and constraints, especially for women. The reality for women at this time was that "you had to be 25 to go and work on the liners". Impatient for travel, Linda chose a new direction to achieve her ambition and trained as a nursery nurse, which opened the door to new adventures and experiences.

A tragic family event forced Linda to re-evaluate her priorities, resulting in a new determination and desire to train as a health worker within the area of HIV and Aids. In 1989 Linda was given the opportunity to work on an outreach project and began working with "drug users and the women who were on the Dock Road".

Linda realised the importance of education around these issues and encouraged the wider community to get involved, on one occasion inviting them to a 'Safer Sex Night' where, as she explains in the interview clips below, a slight misunderstanding meant they had a captive audience!

Through her work Linda gained an insight into the lives of the women working on the Dock Road, befriending and gaining their trust whilst having the opportunity to assess the various definitions and attitudes towards prostitution.

Linda was interviewed for eight hundred lives and also as part of the project 'Working at the edge of the world' by Dr Joanne Lacey. Elements of that project formed part of the photographic exhibition 'The water's edge' by Michelle Sank at the Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool from 14 April to 2 June 2007. Michelle's contemporary portrait of Linda, seen here, is also taken from that work.

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