St Nicholas Hospice to take over Burton Centre
Wednesday, 14th November 2012.
St Nicholas Hospice has won the race to take over the Burton Centre in Haverhill, which Suffolk County Council is offloading, including its libraries and the youth services it used to provide in Haverhill.
The county council has agreed to work with St Nicholas Hospice Care to develop a proposal to take on a lease and the management of the Camps Road centre.
The hospice has been offered the centre on the provision it secures nearly £500,000 of Department of Health funding to enable it to take its plans forward.
If its planning and funding applications are approved, the hospice says it plans to turn the under-used Camps Road centre into a ‘community hub’ to deliver services to the people of Haverhill and surrounding areas.
The library will continue to occupy and operate from its half of the building under the management of Suffolk Libraries Industrial and Provident Society.
Barbara Gale, St Nicholas Hospice care executive, said: “We want to support more patients and families with life-shortening illness in their own home or the community.
"As such, we think the Burton Centre could help us to bring some hospice services closer to the people of Haverhill and surrounding areas.
“We are very keen to work with the existing community groups that use the centre and plan to have discussions with them all in the coming months.
“We’re delighted that, as a result of this decision, the hospice should be able to provide more care and support where people need it.”
Plans for the hospice community hub include a shop unit and café as well as services for patients, families and carers including complementary therapies, bereavement counselling, legal surgeries and support groups.
Having a base in the town will enable staff to be more responsive and spend more time on care rather than travel.
The hospice will submit planning applications for internal remodelling and an external lift next month, but will not find out about Department of Health funding until March 2013.
If the funding and planning applications are approved, it is hoped to start running the first hospice services from the centre in November 2013.
Cllr Lisa Chambers, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member responsible for property, said: “I’m really pleased the Burton Centre is going to be transformed from an under-utilised building into a thriving community facility that will benefit a lot of people who need support.
“St Nicholas Hospice Care is a great cause and the Burton Centre will mean it is able to make a much greater impact on the communities it serves.”
The Burton Centre became significantly under-used when Suffolk County Council axed the youth services, which it used to provide there, last year.
The county council has agreed to work with St Nicholas Hospice Care to develop a proposal to take on a lease and the management of the Camps Road centre.
The hospice has been offered the centre on the provision it secures nearly £500,000 of Department of Health funding to enable it to take its plans forward.
If its planning and funding applications are approved, the hospice says it plans to turn the under-used Camps Road centre into a ‘community hub’ to deliver services to the people of Haverhill and surrounding areas.
The library will continue to occupy and operate from its half of the building under the management of Suffolk Libraries Industrial and Provident Society.
Barbara Gale, St Nicholas Hospice care executive, said: “We want to support more patients and families with life-shortening illness in their own home or the community.
"As such, we think the Burton Centre could help us to bring some hospice services closer to the people of Haverhill and surrounding areas.
“We are very keen to work with the existing community groups that use the centre and plan to have discussions with them all in the coming months.
“We’re delighted that, as a result of this decision, the hospice should be able to provide more care and support where people need it.”
Plans for the hospice community hub include a shop unit and café as well as services for patients, families and carers including complementary therapies, bereavement counselling, legal surgeries and support groups.
Having a base in the town will enable staff to be more responsive and spend more time on care rather than travel.
The hospice will submit planning applications for internal remodelling and an external lift next month, but will not find out about Department of Health funding until March 2013.
If the funding and planning applications are approved, it is hoped to start running the first hospice services from the centre in November 2013.
Cllr Lisa Chambers, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member responsible for property, said: “I’m really pleased the Burton Centre is going to be transformed from an under-utilised building into a thriving community facility that will benefit a lot of people who need support.
“St Nicholas Hospice Care is a great cause and the Burton Centre will mean it is able to make a much greater impact on the communities it serves.”
The Burton Centre became significantly under-used when Suffolk County Council axed the youth services, which it used to provide there, last year.
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