WORK has begun on the new outpatient centre at Savernake Hospital after the appeal target was smashed by almost £85,000.

Builders are now busy converting the eight-room Lavington Suite into the new Prospect Hospice Outpatient Centre which will include a courtyard, welcome room, day hospice group room, counselling room, small group room, medical outpatient room, therapy room, store and office.

Prospect Hospice’s chief executive Angela Jordan is delighted to see the conversion of the site begin.

“It is a huge achievement by the people of Marlborough and the surrounding villages to have raised this sum,” she said,

“I am sure they will share with me the sense of delight I feel that the Outpatient Centre they backed overwhelmingly will start to take shape in the months ahead.”

The refurbishment of the rooms is expected to last several weeks, and the charity expects to accept patients from late July.

The hospice secured a £125,000 grant from an anonymous supporter and in October an appeal was launched, with the support of the Gazette, to raise the additional £75,000 needed to bring end of life care closer to home for people in Marlborough and Pewsey.

By January it had already exceeded its original target by £20,000 and when it came to a close in March almost £160,000 had been raised.

Ms Jordan said: “With the appeal target having been not just reached but surpassed, we can look ahead confidently knowing that the funds are in place to support the Outpatient Centre in its first year when it starts welcoming patients and their families.

“The appeal has ended but we will still continue to raise both our profile and funds in the area to support the £400,000 minimum it costs to provide our care and services to the local community.”

Shortly after the appeal was launched, The Friends of Savernake Hospital and the Community, a charity that supports organisations and individuals involved in healthcare, promised to match funds raised by the community, up to £20,000.

They presented the second half of the money shortly before the appeal came to an end.

Prospect Hospice’s income generation director Richard Hammond said: “We are hugely grateful to the Friends of Savernake Hospital for the support that they have given our appeal to open our Outpatient Centre at the hospital.

“Their offer to match fund the community’s fundraising to the tune of the first £20,000 of donations gave it an immediate boost, and I am sure encouraged local people to get behind our appeal.

“I would like to express the thanks of everyone at Prospect Hospice for the support of the Friends of Savernake Hospital to the appeal, and look forward to working closely with them when our Outpatient Centre opens.”