Facing end-of-life care is a heart-wrenching prospect for thousands of families in Yorkshire every year.

The region’s hospices, which support patients and families in the final weeks of life, provide much-needed services but often face relying on public fundraising to keep running.

And one hospice in Calderdale has cemented its role in the future of the community - as an ambitious building project reached a major milestone.

Overgate Hospice’s new state-of-art building will see 16 private bedrooms created as well as as spiritual area of care.

Overgate Hospice in Elland where around £12m is being invested in a new building complex. Photograph by Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Overgate Hospice in Elland where around £12m is being invested in a new building complex. Photograph by Tony Johnson.

The £12.75m build in Elland has been fundraised through grants and public donations, and has been supported by Sally Wainwright, the creator of Gentleman Jack and Happy Valley.

Marshall Construction of Elland, who built the original hospice, completed erecting the structure this week – heralding a major milestone in the project several years in the making.

Laura Golding, deputy CEO of Overgate Hospice, said: “The atmosphere at the moment is excitement. It's definitely a sense of ‘it's finally happening’.

“We've talked about the new hospice for seven years. COVID did a bit of a delay for us.

Laura Golding, Director of Income Generation at Overgate Hospice in Elland where around £12m is being invested in a new building complex. Photograph by Tony Johnson.

“We’ve got patients out on the veranda watching the steel go up. We've got all the nurses out there. We've got people from the community just popping in and looking at the site, through the fence, to have a look at what's happening.”

Ms Golding explained that the new building is badly needed by patients and staff.

“We will be moving to 16 individual patient bedrooms in the new unit,” she said. “At the moment if you were admitted to Overgate, it’s highly likely that you’d be in a shared bay with other families in the same situation.

“There will be spaces for families to sleep over and a spiritual space, which will hopefully mean we can provide care for different faiths across Calderdale.

“Our patients get wonderful care at the moment but we’ve definitely outgrown our facilities and they are very tired.”

Detailed plans were first revealed around a year ago and since then, the hospice suffered a break-in by thieves in January – but that failed to derail the project, which attracted even more donations as a result.

Ms Golding said: “We’ve got a really resilient, fantastic team, but for weeks afterwards, there was definitely a lot of nervousness about staff working on their own, or staff going to their cars at the end of a shift, if it was dark.

“But we were fortunate that the community really rallied around us and we managed to fix all the damage and replace all the items that were taken.”

Tracey Wilcocks, chief executive, added: “Seeing is believing and the new hospice building will really take shape during the coming months, ready to open in just under a year and a half, if everything stays on track.”