Fisher House: Work starts on Birmingham home for injured troops' families

A turf-cutting ceremony has taken place in Birmingham to mark the start of work to build free accommodation for the families of injured forces personnel.

The £4.2m facility is being funded by charities including Help for Heroes and the US-based Fisher House Foundation.

Known as a "Fisher House", it will mean relatives of soldiers being treated at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine can stay nearby.

The site is within walking distance of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The Duke of Gloucester cut the ceremonial first sod earlier.

A spokesperson from the hospital said it is hoped the building, which includes 18 en-suite rooms, will be ready to open early next year.

Families can currently stay at the Norton home near the hospital, where there are six bedrooms.

The first Fisher House for service families opened in the US in 1991.

Ken Fisher, chairman of the Fisher House Foundation said: "It's a smaller version of those in the US but we're going to bring the entire model to the UK including the design and the support system."