THE potential of the new Kemp Hospice is "mind-blowing" according to campaign manager John Fletcher.

And he stressed it will be a "lively place with lots of things going on" to keep patients stimulated. Mr Fletcher said the new day care centre - accommodating 18 people compared with the 12 currently catered for at Sutton Park Road - at the Mason Road building should be completed before the end of the year.

Work is expected to start on the three-storey 21-bedroom former hotel in late July.

The day care centre will open at the same time as associated facilities including space for Macmillan nurses, therapy rooms and a hairdressing salon with the new in-patient unit and family suites to follow.

Kemp had originally planned to move into a purpose-built base on its present site.

"When you think about that poky Sutton Park Road place and what we've got here it's just mind-blowing," said Mr Fletcher.

"It must be two-and-a-half times bigger than the new hospice was going to be and that was a lot bigger than what we've got now."

The extra space also means wheelchair patients will be welcome.

"Wheelchairs are a problem at Sutton Park Road. We've had to refuse wheelchair patients sometimes because there hasn't been enough room for them."

And the new premises come with a conservatory and a mature landscaped garden.

"The conservatory is almost as big as the patient area on the whole of the ground floor of Sutton Park Road," said Mr Fletcher.

"When decked out with nice furniture this will be somewhere the day patients will congregate. And you can imagine having all sorts of events in the garden.

"The pagoda area will make a fab place for barbecues."

He added: "The mind can almost run riot when you think about the amount of space we've got here."

Mr Fletcher said the new hospice would encourage the community to use its facilities.

Plans may include a public coffee lounge and the second phase of development will help strengthen ties with Kidderminster Hospital by offering meeting and training rooms available to health care professionals.

The more activity, the more stimulated patients become, Mr Fletcher said.

"At a hospice I worked at in Birmingham some years ago most lunch times we had a guy come in and play piano.

"The patients were singing their hearts out. It just resonated through the building. That's the participation I see we can get with this place."