A HOSPICE has officially unveiled newly refurbished bedrooms on the unit following a six-figure government grant.

Over 60 supporters and friends of St Clare Hospice were invited to attend the opening on Monday.

In the year the hospice celebrated its 20th birthday, the Department of Health funded �396,000 to St Clare towards the refurbishment unit for the improvement and enhancement of the patient environment.

Director of patient care and acting chief executive Tanya Curry said: “Our eight specialist Inpatient bedrooms are used 24 hours a day and have been since they opened 10 years ago.

“With such demand, they were beginning to look tired and dated.

“This grant enabled us to refurbish all eight rooms, installing the very best in patient equipment and making each of the rooms a warm, comfortable and special place for our patients.”

She added “This is work we simply couldn’t have undertaken without the grant as we have to work incredibly hard to raise enough funds to keep the Hospice running every day.

“It costs over �5,000 each day for us to provide our services and the money we were awarded did not contribute towards care costs; it specifically went towards improving the patient environment.

“The improvements made have enabled the Hospice to provide our patients and their families with the very best environment for specialist palliative care.

“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved which was delivered on time and to budget.”

St Clare Hospice currently receives only 24 per cent of its �2.6m annual running costs from the NHS.