WORK can now start on a vital extension for Meadow House hospice after a two-year Gazette-backed campaign to raise £250,000.
The cash will be matched by the Government and the extension should be finished by the summer, although the fund-raising is still continuing as another £100,000 is needed for fixtures and fittings.
The Meadow House hospice fund-raising campaign was launched, with Gazette backing, in 2007 and aimed to build an extension, including two conservatories, to improve services and patients' quality of life at its base in the grounds of Ealing Hospital.
The appeal gained a warm response from businesses such as Sainsbury's in West Ealing which set a £25,000 fund-raising target after customers chose the hospice for last year's charity and M&S in Chiswick, which made the same choice, and sold personal alarms through the Safer Neighbourhood initiative.
Money has also come from legacies, one as much as £38,000, local businesses particularly in Pitshanger Lane, local Rotary clubs, Ealing Abbey and hundreds of individuals.
The hospice's fund-raising manager Helen Ryan said: "What a great achievement. It has been a lot of hard work but I have been delighted to have been involved in such a fantastic cause, which I am passionate about. Everyone has been amazing. I could not have done it without them."
Hospice manager Jackie Grove, said: "We have put the work out to tender and should have that back by mid March. The building should be complete by the end of July or August. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"It will give us a lot more space for therapy and assessment and a family room and give us a chance to develop the day hospice activities. We want to thank Helen for all her hard work because we didn't have the resources to do this ourselves."
She said the new extension would also enable them to have a dedicated spiritual room and even a wireless area for people to work while visiting patients.
If you would like to make a donation just go to: www.justgiving.com/meadowhousehospice
