Dobcross Link As Children’s Hospice Reveals Expansion Plans
Sir Alex Ferguson helped launch the plans last night. (picture: Francis House)
Francis House children’s hospice, which is run by Dobcross-based Chief Executive Reverend David Ireland, has announced plans to double in size.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson joined Revd Ireland and users of the hospice at a launch event in Manchester Town Hall last night.
The hospice, which is in Didsbury and provides care to children from across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, is hoping to raise £3.6m to cover the new building, which would be built close to the existing hospice site.
In a statement issued by the hospice, Revd Ireland commented: “The number of young people needing our help is increasing all the time, and we turn nobody away who meets the criteria. While it has its roots in working with the Catholic Children’s Rescue Society, the trust was formed to provide care for people of all faiths and no faith.”
He added: “We care for siblings and their families, and because many of the illnesses that our young people suffer are genetic, you may have several siblings with the same condition. Once we establish the connection with families, we do not turn them away, we never put an age limit on our care.”
Last year the hospice cost £2.75m to keep open, and because it only receives a relatively small amount of government funding, it relies heavily on donations.
Revd Ireland’s statement continued: “We care for children from the Welsh Borders and Crewe to Bolton, and across to Kirklees. Unlike adult hospices, most of our young people are suffering from conditions other than cancer. We care for sick children and their families, and it became clear to us last year that we were struggling to give adequate respite care to new families.”
He concluded: “We temporarily opened Francis Lodge in a building located nearby which gave us a reasonable amount of extra facilities, but numbers are increasing all the time and we need to grow with them. By having the new building on the same site, we will double the number of rooms we have, but share many facilities so we can more than double the care we offer.”
It’s hoped the new building could be open as soon as 2013. You can get more information about the hospice from its website here.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
If you would like to share an interesting story, achievement, photo or something you just want to happily shout about please send it in an email to hello@saddleworthlife.com We'd ❤ to hear from you!!
