STEERING the development of the hospice is a board of seven trustees with former nurse and hospital manager, Isobel Dale, at the helm since 2004 when she became chairman.

The hand-picked group of volunteers were chosen for their range of skills covering clinical experience, business and commercial expertise, marketing and a knowledge of the hospice sector.

"It's a good mix of skills. They are a good team and I value their friendship," said Mrs Dale, who became a trustee in 1999 after retiring from Birmingham Children's Hospital where she had been a senior community service manager.

With her clinical background and professional business skills she joined the board at a time when the hospice had outgrown its former accommodation at Sutton Park Road and had embarked on the ambitious path of raising funds for a new hospice.

"At the time, the ideal was beyond our financial grasp. We had to think again to meet the area's growing need for specialist palliative care for patients with life-threatening illnesses and support for their families," said Mrs Dale.

The solution came in 2003 with the trustees' decision to buy the Cedars Hotel and transform it into a state-of-the-art yet comfortable and welcoming hospice.

She said: "We have not compromised the patients in any way. We have high quality furnishing and fixtures throughout, and most of what we have achieved is due to the generosity of the local community of which they can be justly proud."

The trustees are very clear that the hospice is for the community, led by the community and that developments must be according to local need.

They share a commitment to providing the highest quality services within Kemp and a collective responsibility for its governance.

"We are the governing body - we oversee the activities and performance of the hospice, making sure they are doing things properly, meeting the legal requirements and so on, We also set the strategic direction," explained Mrs Dale.

The principal role for the trustees now is to allow for a period of consolidation and to support the small team of paid staff and the army of volunteers as they take on the changes before embarking on future developments.

"We have grown up and come of age," she added proudly.