Claire House Seeks £10m for 24/7 Hospice in West Derby

Claire House Hospice has launched an appeal to raise £10m towards a new 24/7 site in West Derby, Liverpool. The total build bill is £23m. Some of the money is being arranged privately, and the hospice has kept savings earmarked for care provision.

The campaign is called "Make the Hospice Happen". It follows planning permission: Liverpool Council's planning committee approved upgrades to the site on Honey's Green Lane in June, to create a round-the-clock care facility.

A site held since 2017

The charity was given the former Carmelite Monastery site in 2017. Since then it has carried out minor internal refurbishment on the ground floor, enough to run day care for families and children.

Distance has long been a barrier to hospice care for many families. Journeys to the charity's Wirral hospice are long and exhausting, and families often spend that time travelling rather than being together.

Numbers behind the plan

Chief executive David Pastor told the ECHO the planning approval was "really just getting us to the start line". Today the hospice cares for 500 children and families. He said that figure will be at least 1,000 in the future, so the care it provides needs to double.

Over the past 10 years the hospice has supported more than 1,000 children at the end of their lives.

The hospice hopes to start on site by January and to open in summer 2029. Mr Pastor said that starting would pause the pace of rising costs, while delay makes things more difficult. During the build the West Derby site will close for a short period. Everton in the Community and Little Lights have helped to make sure no services are lost while work is under way.

Mr Pastor said the charity is taking a risk, because not all of the money is covered. He added that he is "100% confident" that supporters who have taken the hospice this far will carry it on. He also spoke about his own son, Jude, who did not breathe for the first two minutes of his life.

Donations can be made through the campaign page on the Claire House website.

Source: Liverpool Echo