Acorns hospice to take on 100 new care staff

A children's hospice in the West Midlands is planning to take on more than 100 new care staff.

Acorns, which has centres in Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester, cares for more than 600 children a year.

It said it wanted to increase services to support about 1,000 children a year, which it said would cost an extra £4.2m over the next five years.

Head of care Chris Reed said: "It's an enormous challenge that we're planning to meet through fundraising."

Figures show that Acorns had 302 staff and an income of £12.8m in the year to March 2012.

The charity currently has to generate £8m a year to run its three hospices.

It said its research had found there were about 2,000 children with life-limiting or life-threatening condition in the West Midlands region.

"We want to not only provide respite care at each of our hospices but one area we want to expand is community services serving more people in their own homes and giving families a choice," Mr Reed said.