MONTHS of fund-raising efforts are set to bear fruit today (Thursday, January 11) when the first sod is cut on the site of the St Helens and Knowsley Hospice.

Lord Derby will perform the official ceremony at about 10.45 am at the site in Portico lane, Eccleston Park donated by St Helens Council - and building work on the hospice is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 22. A projected completion date in 1997 will be announced shortly, but it is expected to be in spring or the early summer. The hospice should be open to patients by late 1997.

The building contract has been awarded to Moss Construction Northern Ltd. of Knowsley and the building will be designed by architects Ainsley Gommon Wood.

People working on the project will come from both the St Helens and Knowsley boroughs as a 'local labour" clause was included in the specification for tenders to make sure that a high proportion of people working on the scheme lived locally.

Moss Construction Northern has an impressive track record in healthcare-related projects and recently completed a £2.4 million extension to the intensive care unit at Alder Hey Hospital, together with provision of a new education centre.

In addition, the company completed the new Sunny Bank Centre in Woolton for the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation and its impressive client list also includes ASDA, C&A, Tesco, University of Liverpool, Littlewoods, Liverpool Diocesan Commercial Services and many of the North West region's NHS Trusts.

Jim French, managing director of Moss Construction Northern, said: "We are delighted to be entrusted with this important building contract which will provide employment opportunities for local people during construction, and after completion will offer much-needed help and support to patients from our local community."

The design team which will be supporting Ainsley Gommon Wood includes the local engineering consultancy Bingham Cotterell; quantity surveyors Davies Langdon and Everest; and Stephen Hunt Associates, mechanical and electrical engineers.

A delighted Lady Kirsty Pilkington, who is the chairman of the St Helens and Knowsley Hospice, said: "The support of the people of both St Helens and Knowsley has been tremendous, £1,400,000 has been raised to date.

"The generosity and ingenuity shown by the local community has been overwhelming. A further £400,000 is needed to meet the balance of building and commissioning costs - everyone has been marvellous and we are hoping both boroughs will continue to support us now and in the future."

The hospice will proved in-patient and day care for people with cancer and other serious illness, who require palliative care.

Its services will be available free of charge to those in need at every stage of their illness.

The hospice will provide a wide range of care, seeking to meet not only people's medical needs, but also their emotional, social and spiritual needs. It will work closely with the local NHS medical and nursing services in the hospitals and in the community.

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