Overgate Hospice building project: 'We would have been absolutely lost without Overgate' say families as hospice appeals for help to create brand new building

An official launch of the public phase of the hospice’s Big Build appeal – a campaign to raise £12.75 million to build a new inpatient unit and modernise the day hospice at their site in Elland – was held at Dean Clough’s Crossley Gallery,

Five years of private fundraising has allowed the hospice to reach £9.7m of the funds needed and the charity is now appealing to the people of Calderdale to help raise the final £3m.

The Big Build will involve creating a new 16-bed inpatient unit and updated day hospice.

Tracey Wilcocks, CEO of Overgate Hospice, said: “At the moment we have 12 beds, we’ve got shared wards, only two bathrooms and very little family space.

"Our new hospice will provide 16 beds – all with ensuite facilities, all with access to garden terraces. It will mean we can care for more people - almost double the amount of people - we’ll have increased family space, meaning families can stay over and spend time with their loved ones.

Hannah and Amy Sharp spent seven-and-a-half weeks at the hospice last summer with their mum before she passed away.

They said the new site would have given them more privacy and allow them to have difficult conversations with a doctor and their mum without feeling uncomfortable and hearing other conversations.

"When you know what’s imminent for yourselves, it’s quite hard to listen to other families going through it at the same time,” they said.

“[Having a private room] would have made it feel even more like home than what it already does because you could just have that space to make it totally your own.”

Verna Webber, an Overgate Hospice trustee, used the hospice’s services when her husband chose to go there for end-of-life care five years ago.

She said: “As a family unit, we would have been absolutely lost without Overgate and all the people that work there and support everybody.

"It was the most important thing as a family, for my husband, and for me, but also for my daughter – life would have been so much harder and in lots of cases very very difficult to find our way through the maze of everything that you need when somebody has a life-limiting illness.”

As well as improving dignity and privacy, it is hoped the new hospice will better serve the diverse community of Calderdale by providing a dedicated multi-faith space with prayer and washing facilities.

Vicar of Halifax Canon Hilary Barber said: “As a priest, I regularly visit the hospice to support staff and to be alongside patients towards the end of their lives, so the work of the hospice is fundamental as to who we are as a community in Calderdale.”

Hospice supporter Jane Furniss said: “None of us knows when one of us might need Overgate Hospice care but one thing we do know is that when that moment comes we want it to be able to provide the best possible care in the best possible facilities so please help us reach that goal.”

For more about the appeal, visit the Overgate Hospice website.