A HOSPICE in Worcester is set to celebrate 20 years helping patients with life-threatening illnesses by launching an appeal to raise cash to build a brand new centre.

St Richard's Hospice, based in Rose Hill, near the city centre, will officially launch its public appeal in July and hopes it will raise £5.25m for the new centre - which will include the first specialist palliative beds for seriously ill patients in South Worcestershire.

The overall concept behind the planning of the new hospice, which will be sited just outside the city in Wildwood Way, has been to create a homely, light, airy and comfortable space that allows for both privacy and a community spirit.

The building will be centred on a south-facing courtyard - allowing natural light to fill the rooms.

Phil Kavanagh, associate director and project architect said: "We wanted to design a building that would support and improve the quality of life for the patients, their relatives and friends."

Vincent Kirk, director of Panton Sargent, added: "Hospices are still quite rare.

"We wanted to develop an architectural

language which said homely, safe, secure but was also reassuringly professional."

There will be mainly single en-suite bedrooms with one double and two triple rooms, and all of them will have a private terrace with screening and a sun awning.

They have been specially designed so patients can be wheeled out in their beds onto the terrace and enjoy being outside in a sheltered, private space with spectacular views over Worcestershire countryside.

The day hospice, which has been a long-established St Richard's service, will form a major part of the new building.

There will be large terraces overlooking the garden, a newly-created lake and countryside.

It will include medical treatment rooms, an outpatients department, consulting rooms, rooms for counselling, social work, physiotherapy, hairdressing and complementary therapies and a large education and study area.

To find out more about the new hospice and how you can help the charity raise money read the Evening News' special eight-page St Richard's supplement on Monday, which includes heart-rending stories of some of the people the hospice has already helped.