Two weeks ahead of schedule, the new £10.5 million hospice for the Arthur Rank Hospice charity has been handed over to CEO Lynn Morgan.

The 24-bed facility in Shelford Bottom has been completed early and handed over to the Charity’s CEO, Lynn Morgan, by Barnes Construction.

David Faichney, senior contracts manager at Barnes Construction said: “The construction team has worked extremely hard to hand over the building ahead of the planned completion date. We hope that our early delivery will help smooth the way for the hospice’s move from the existing building on Mill Road.”

Lynn Morgan, CEO of the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, said: “We now have a fantastic new building that will soon be ready to provide a more spacious, attractive and therapeutic environment. The team delivered a professional service from the first day on the project. Now that construction has been completed, we look forward to offering our wide reaching supportive and specialist palliative care and services free of charge to more people living with a life limiting illness in Cambridgeshire.”

Barnes Construction commenced work on the hospice in spring 2015, formally marked by an Act of Dedication attended by the Bishop of Ely. Since the topping out ceremony which commemorated the building becoming watertight, the team on site has been busy completing the fit-out and installing the services and completing the external paving and landscape areas.

The new building stands on former greenbelt land, leased to the charity by Cambridgeshire County Council. With very easy access to the park and ride, the 24-bed hospice is expected to open to patients mid-November 2016.

As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility activity, employees of Barnes Construction have also raised money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity including teams and individuals taking part in events such as the Big Bike Ride in Cambridge and Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100.

Barnes Construction has won awards for its work on regional projects such as the graduate accommodation building at Leckhampton for Corpus Christ College and the new East Anglian Children’s Hospice in Ipswich.