Hospice appeals for £1m for urgent repairs

Chief executive Heather Tudor said the hospice needed to carry out urgent work

A hospice is asking its supporters to help them raise £1m to pay for urgently needed repairs.

Severn Hospice said one of the wards at its site in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was 35 years old and could no longer get by on routine maintenance.

A spokesperson said they also wanted to increase the size of Perry ward, to create more space for visitors and make patient's rooms larger.

The hospice has already raised £2m for the project and their chief executive Heather Tudor said: "We're committed to the project and it has to go ahead because it's a must do, it's not a nice to do."

The work will involve replacing the roof, wiring and installing a new boiler.

The spokesperson said the need for the changes were because patients needed more equipment for their care than when their rooms were originally designed.

The new rooms would give them en suite facilities and direct access to the gardens, they added.

The hospice said a ward would be extended as part of the project

"The project couldn't have come at a more challenging time for us," they added.

Annual running costs for the hospice have increased by more than £2.5m in the past two years and continue to rise.

The rise was partly down to changes to National Insurance and National Minimum Wage which have added £500,000 annually to their running costs, the spokesperson said.