Zoe's Place secures £2.5m pledge amid closure risk

The public has been working to raise enough money to ensure the baby hospice remains open

A Liverpool business has pledged £2.5m to help save baby hospice Zoe's Place which was at risk of closure.

Earlier this month, the charity - which also has hospices in Middleborough and Coventry - announced it had 30 days to raise enough money to build a new Liverpool facility, with the lease on its current site set to expire.

Liverpool-based retailer TJ Morris Ltd, which trades as Home Bargains, has pledged half of the £5m the charity said it needed to raise by 9 November to keep a hospice in Liverpool.

Zoe's Place executive trustee Joan Stainsby said: "As a charity, we are immensely grateful to Home Bargains for standing by us in our time of need."

A public fundraising campaign had already raised a significant amount of money for the new facility, with the charity deciding to create a separate board of trustees for its Liverpool centre.

'Liverpool coming together'

Independent MP for Liverpool West Derby Ian Byrne, who was involved in the campaign, said: "This is unbelievable news and what an example of Liverpool coming together."

He added: "A huge thanks to Home Bargains for their generosity in helping us to take a huge step forward to secure a bright future for Zoe’s Place Liverpool."

The lease on the charity's site in Yew Tree Lane expires in June 2025.

In a statement, Zoe's Place said the donation had reinforced "the community’s commitment to ensure the baby hospice continues to provide vital support for children with life-limiting conditions and their families for many years to come".

The charity's head of marketing Summa Gill said about £1m remained to raise.

Of the latest donation, she said: "It's just given us so much hope which was so needed."

Planning permission has already been approved for the new hospice on the former bowling green and Victorian villa at Hayman’s Green, in West Derby.

But the hospice said the cost of building a new hospice had spiralled from the original estimate of £3.5m to in excess of £5m.