A CHARITY is celebrating after winning £326,488 in grant funding to develop a community outreach centre in Haverhill.

St Nicholas Hospice Care plans to turn the underused Burton Centre in Camps Road into an outreach centre where people and families living with life-shortening illnesses, such as cancer, heart failure, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease, can access a range of services without having to travel to the hospice’s main site in Bury St Edmunds.

The news, announced by Norman Lamb, Minister of State for Care Services, today, follows the decision last Thursday of St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Development Control Committee to unanimously approve the hospice’s plans for the centre.

Proposals include counselling and therapy rooms on the first floor, while planned services include counselling, bereavement support, advice, medical and nurse clinics, complementary therapies, faith networks, group support for patients and carers as well as a drop-in centre.

Barbara Gale, St Nicholas Hospice Care chief executive, said: “I am delighted St Nicholas Hospice Care has been awarded Department of Health grant funding to enable us to turn the Burton Centre into an outreach centre and better serve the community of Haverhill.

“Our development of the Burton Centre will be the first hospice outreach centre in west Suffolk. We have chosen Haverhill because of the large population and its growing need for more services for those at the end of their lives and in response to local requests.”

A new lift and stairwell will give better access to the first floor, while the building and its facilities - including meeting rooms, activities space and offices - will be available to current users of the building and the public by prior arrangement.

The centre’s café will also remain open to everyone, creating a social meeting point with a new external patio for everybody accessing services or visiting the centre.

The hospice also plans to work in partnership with local health and social care organisations, providing them with knowledge and resources to support those living with dying.

The library will continue to occupy and operate from its half of the building under the management of Suffolk Libraries Industrial and Provident Society.