Work well underway to transform Walsall children's hospice

Rooms and corridors have been stripped at the Walstead Road facility in Walsall after phase one of the major refurbishment began.

The work is part of the Room to Grow Appeal, which was launched in February, and aims to raise £750,000 to upgrade facilities and modernise the hospice.

This project represents an impressive turnaround for Acorns as, in 2019, the hospice faced the bleak prospect of closure due to financial problems.

Its long-term future was secured last year thanks to a huge fund-raising effort and support from the community.

Due in part to past financial constraints, this will be the first-time major refurbishments will have taken place at the hospice since it opened over 20 years ago.

As well as refurbishing the 10 children’s bedrooms, the project will see the building of a new arts and crafts room, expansion of a dining room as well as seeing it become the first Acorns centre with piped oxygen and suction devices built into the rooms.

The arts and craft room is called ‘Isabella’s Place’ in honour of Isabella Lyttle, from Walsall, who spent many happy hours among the glitter and crayons, and in gratitude to the huge efforts of her parents Mark Lyttle and Jen Day as part of the community effort to save the hospice.

Acorns were able to start the phase one work after raising £100,000 in just a matter of weeks after the appeal was launched in February, and named specialists Murray & Willis Ltd as the contractor to carry out the works.

The hospice closed on May 1 for the works and will be shut for six months while work is taking place, with some services being provided by St Giles Hospice in Lichfield.

A spokesman said: “We are thrilled to announce that work has now begun on the major refurbishment of our Black Country hospice in Walsall, thanks to the generosity of the local community.

“Rooms and corridors in the Black Country hospice have now been stripped ready to be upgraded as we get set to modernise the spaces where children and families spend precious time.

“In just a few weeks, kind donations from the community have raised over £100,000 towards the refurbishment, which is designed to modernise the spaces at the hospice where hundreds of local children spend precious time every year.”

Emma Aspinall, Acorns director of care, added: “This is a significant development in the project to bring our Walsall hospice up to date for local families.

“We’re so thankful to the many people who have donated to our appeal so far, giving us the confidence to begin these works in the knowledge that the local community is well on the way to helping us reach the finish line.”

People can contribute to the fundraiser by visiting acorns.org.uk/roomtogrow/#donate