Building work at Wirral Hospice

Background:

We have been carrying out refurbishments over the last few months to modernise and refresh our patient and family spaces.

This has all been thanks to additional government money that has been distributed to hospices around the UK to spend on building work and other improvements.

This is what we have been able to invest in so far, thanks to this extra funding:

• Wellbeing Centre lounge and conservatory refurbishment
• Inpatient lounge refurbishment
• Family overnight room refurbishment (situated within our inpatient ward)
• 2x electric cars (EVs) bought for our Hospice at Home team to visit patients
• Solar panels installed and EV charger points for our Hospice at Home cars
• Upgraded laptops (old laptops will be sold off to raise further income) 
• Laundry room refurbished, including new washing machines and dryers
• Re-fit of our outpatients kitchenette

To ensure that our whole hospice building is fit for the short and longer-term future, we have also refurbished our main entrance, reception space, and café: 

• The main entrance conservatory was very old with blown glass, so this has been replaced with new glass and a solid roof to ensure it can be used comfortably all year round.
• The reception area has been freshened up to make the space as welcoming as possible for visitors. 
• The Quiet Space has been moved to the old doctors’ office (by the main reception desk) – this will make it much easier for patients and visitors to access to have a  peaceful moment of contemplation or prayer. 
• A new doctors’ office has been made by the patient & family support services team – still close to the ward but next to our multi-disciplinary professionals for enhanced working. 
• The café serving counter has been moved fully to the other side of the room, with a prep kitchen behind it (in the old Quiet Space), which backs onto the main kitchen – this makes preparing and serving hot food much easier for our catering team. 
• The seating areas in the cafe has new tables and chairs, with a range of types of seating for patients and visitors that are comfy, stylish, and accessible.

Project Interiors are the contractors we commissioned to carry out this work for us.

Funding this work: 

• Our board of trustees and senior leadership team agreed that would invest some of our hospice money into this important upgrade of the central area. 
• However, we also submitted applications to charitable trusts to help us offset some of the costs – and were successful in securing at least £80,000 from charitable trusts and individual donors  towards this work.

Public fundraising

• We didn’t launch a public fundraising appeal, as it’s important that our supporters’ donations continue to contribute towards our day-to-day care for our patients, their families and those important to them.
• We do realise that sometimes people want to give to something that can be seen, so we have a JustGiving page for those that may like to give a donation towards building work, maintenance repairs, furniture and equipment.

Please visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/capitalcosts if you would like to contribute to this aspect of our work, thank you.