Francis House: Veteran children's hospice boss to step down

David Ireland has led Francis House for nearly 20 years

The long-serving chief executive of one of the UK's oldest children's hospices has announced plans to step down.

David Ireland has led Francis House in Didsbury, Manchester, since 2005.

The hospice was opened by Princess Diana in 1991 and has cared for children with either life-threatening or life-limiting illnesses for more than 30 years.

Mr Ireland expressed his thanks for many years of donations and said he would stand down in 2025.

Now aged 68, he told BBC North West Tonight "it was time" to stand aside so someone new could "take us into a new era".

He added: "Families come here with a lot of trepidation to begin with, because their child has been given a diagnosis that they're not going to live.

"But once they get over the threshold they realise this is a place where they can have lots of fun."

The trained architect was initially a partner in a firm that was hired to develop the hospice in an old convent building in 1989.

He stayed on as a trustee for more than a decade, meeting many people involved in the hospice movement.

Princess Diana with Sister Aloysius at the opening of Francis House in 1991

"It actually made me feel that perhaps life wasn't all about career and money and there are other things," he said.

It costs £4.8m each year to run Francis House with 14% of that income coming from government funding.

The rest - more than £4m - has to be raised from public donations.

Francis House was opened in 1991 and has cared for thousands of children

Mr Ireland added: "I can't say often enough how thankful we are to the people who donate money.

"It's not about me or my job, it's about the families."