Published on: Tuesday 06 Oct 2015 at 09:31
Following rapid growth in St Clare services over the past four years, and a threefold increase in the number of people being cared for, we were granted permission over the summer to replace the old sheds at the rear of our site with a two-storey building accommodating extra office space and storage facilities.
Fundraising volunteer Pat was joined by our chief executive Tanya Curry and Bob Weston, of Weston Homes, which has been appointed to undertake the construction project, to start the demolition work.
“The sheds were only ever meant to be temporary, but they’ve been in use for almost 20 years and are now no longer fit for purpose, so the demolition was long overdue,” Pat said. “Although it was nerve-wracking to get behind the controls of the digger, it was extremely satisfying to finally see them go to make way for the new building.”
Mr Weston, chief executive of Weston Homes, added: “The demolition of the sheds marks the beginning of an exciting process to build the new facilities for St Clare Hospice and it is fantastic to see the works underway at the site. St Clare Hospice does such important work for the local community and I am proud to be able to support them in this endeavour.”
The new facility will mean we will be able to free up space in our main building for our expanding community, day therapy and family support teams, as well as bring our retail team back on site from rented accommodation.
It will have storage space for vital clinical equipment and fundraising resources on the ground floor as well as dedicated facilities for the maintenance and gardening teams, while the upper floor will provide an open plan office for some of our essential support and administrative staff.
The Hospice car park is also being expanded to create additional spaces, along with extra disabled bays closer to the Hospice entrance.
Construction is due to be completed in the spring.
