Work to transform a west Suffolk building into the first hospice outreach centre in the county has got under way.

Builders converting the Burton Centre in Haverhill into a St Nicholas Hospice Care outreach centre, which will offer hospice care and services, started knocking down internal walls on Tuesday in the first step of the £400,000 project.Mandy Wilson and Barbara Gale, the hospice’s outreach centre manager and chief executive respectively, were on site to see the work progress and even lend a hand with the demolition.

Ms Gale said: “This wall coming down marks the start of the project. There are a lot of people in Haverhill who use our services. This outreach centre is local, it is in town and it is accessible.

“It is exciting for Haverhill and it is exciting for the hospice. There is a need here. We are supporting hundreds of people in this area and this outreach centre means hospice services will be on their doorstep.”

The Burton Centre, in Camps Road, is being transformed into an outreach centre to offer hospice services to the people of the town and surrounding villages. It is hoped that, once opened, the centre will help to save people facing life-shortening illnesses and their families having to travel to the Hospice’s main site in Bury St Edmunds.

The finished project, which is due to be completed in March, will offer treatment and therapy rooms, activities spaces, offices, meeting rooms and a new wheelchair lift to improve access. The hospice was awarded a £326,488 Department of Health grant towards the £399,000 capital project.

Mandy said: “We want it to be used by every age group and everybody in the community. It is going to be beautiful and bright once all the work is complete.”