PROSPECT Hospice’s much-anticipated Outreach Centre in Marlborough, which Gazette readers helped raise almost £160,000 towards, is set to open this week.

Builders have been busy this summer converting the Lavington Suite at Savernake Hospital into the new eight-room base, which includes a therapy room, courtyard and day hospice group room.

It means people living in the town and surrounding villages will have access to the Prospect’s vital outreach services in Marlborough instead of having to travel further afield.

The services include physiotherapy, day services, occupational therapy, counselling, complementary therapies and bereavement support.

Maria Moxham, Prospect Hospice’s director of resources said: “I am sure that the people of Marlborough and the Kennet Valley will share our sense of excitement at the imminent opening of the Prospect Hospice Outreach Centre, in their own community, bringing our services and care closer to home.

“Once we open our doors I am very confident that patients and their families will look to us to provide the support they have sought from us in the past, but in a fresh and newly-refurbished facility at a much-cherished local hospital.”

There will also be a community nurse specialist service at the centre to support patients in their own homes, which will support the development of local health and social care workers involved in end-of-life care through its education service as well.

The charity already has to raise more than £400,000 each year to support the end-of-life care needs of people in the area.

It is almost a year since the community generously rallied together to raise some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds needed to fund the base, after an appeal was launched by the Gazette and Prospect Hospice.

Last week, the Gazette was given a glimpse inside the centre while the finishing touches were being made.

Richard Hammond, Prospect Hospice’s director of income generation said: “The completion of the Prospect Hospice Outreach Centre is testament to the incredible generosity of the people of the Marlborough area, and their sense that we can make a real difference to people who are approaching the end of their lives, and for their families too.

“I am glad for this opportunity to say thank you once again to this community for raising the funds needed to extend further our care, and welcome their ongoing support for our care in this area.”