To mark this major milestone in the charity's £4m new hospice appeal, popular BBC television character, Bob the Builder will join children and families from each of the Three Counties at the site in Worcester on Tuesday October 28th.

The state-of-the-art hospice on the southern boundary of the city will provide palliative care and support for more than 200 children and their families in the Three Counties.

It will have 10 bedrooms, a multi-sensory room, a specially designed playroom, hydrotherapy pool, family accommodation, a dedicated unit for teenagers and an acre of landscaped gardens designed to be as interactive and accessible as possible for the children who visit.

The grounds also include new stables and paddock for resident donkeys, Dotty and Sally.

It is expected that the building programme will take around 13 months and Malvern-based contractors, Speller-Metcalfe, plan to hand over the hospice to Acorns at the end of 2004 for the finishing touches.

"It's hard to believe that 18 months since launching our fundraising appeal to the general public we are now building the new hospice. It's a fantastic moment," said Acorns' Chief Executive, John Overton.

"However, we still need to raise the final £1m in our appeal to complete the hospice and would urge people to dig deep as we dig the foundations for this exciting project."

Artists impression of new site

Local Acorns families

Many local Acorns families have been following the progress of the new hospice with huge anticipation, including the Davisons from Worcestershire, whose 10-year-old son Robert has travelled to the Acorns hospice in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for respite care since he was two.

Robert is a quadriplegic who also has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and, as his father Bill Davison, explains:

"The new hospice in Worcester just can't happen soon enough for us. Robert often goes to Acorns Selly Oak when he is poorly or when he has just come out of hospital and we couldn't cope at home.

"But he hates the hour-long journey and the trauma of it makes him very agitated and upset and could trigger a fit. It will be so much easier for us when the new hospice is built as it will take us just five minutes to get there in the car."

Mum Sally, who describes Acorns as a 'third hand', adds that the new hospice will make a huge difference to them as a family.

"Because we live so far away from Selly Oak, our other son Peter misses out on the many activities Acorns organises for brothers and sisters.

"It will be great when Acorns Worcester is open as he will then be able to join in. There will be much more normality in our life and Peter's. Many more families like ours will be able reap the benefits of the new hospice."

As well as respite and emergency care, the new Worcester hospice will offer terminal care and bereavement support.

For families like the Lewis's, also from Worcestershire, who lost their five-and-a-half month little boy Fraser from brain damage and severe epilepsy just before Christmas in 1999, Acorns has been a lifeline.

"Thanks to Acorns the last few hours of Fraser's life were very special. The medical staff at Selly Oak ensured he was no longer in any pain. For the first time in his life he stopped hurting.

"The staff cared for his twin brother Hayden, and sister Corah, so we could spend our last precious moments with Fraser.

"Acorns has been so important in our life and still is. It's been a real lifeline and the support we've had from our community worker since Fraser's death has helped us all immensely.

"Night or day I can pick up the phone and talk to someone who understands. Although you never get over losing a child, Acorns means that you don't have to face that loss alone."

The start of building work is also a moving time for 79-year-old June Sayce, who together with her late husband, Willie, donated the land for the new hospice.

"It was my husband's dying wish that his land be donated to help life-limited children and their families and now his dream is about to be set in stone. I've had such pleasure watching this project grow and have put everything into it.

"Now I want to see the hospice built and up-and-running. There aren't many children's hospices in this country which is very sad, but Acorns is helping to put that right. It will be a very special place for very special children."