A CASH boost means the children’s hospice in Huddersfield will open sooner than expected.

Extra cash injections totalling a whopping £250,000 means the hospice can now be built in one go.

The original plan for the Brackenhall site had been to start with just a day centre.

Work was due to start on the first phase of the West Yorkshire Forget Me Not Trust dream later this month, but has now been delayed until September when the whole scheme will then get under way.

Thanks to the arrival of two new grants, the charity can now go full steam ahead to complete the entire £2.3m project for youngsters with life-limiting conditions in Kirklees and Calderdale.

The day centre will offer children access to a sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, messy play area and support services.

The second phase – which was not due to start until July next year – will provide accommodation for families including children’s bedrooms and parents’ rooms.

Now the revised building work on land off Fell Greave Road could get under way as early as this September.

Head of fundraising Sarah Herrett is delighted with the news.

“This is extremely exciting and we are so grateful for the support everyone has given the charity up to this point,’’ she said. “This will give us a great opportunity to provide the whole range of care we want to sooner than we originally expected.

“It will mean that overnight care will be available for families much sooner than the original plan.

“We hope that the community will understand that this is not a delay because of any reason other than that we hope we can build the whole building.”

The Trust must now apply for an extension to the original planning permission granted in July, 2007.

It will also be going back out to tender for the entire building project this time, instead of just the first phase.

If all goes to plan, the building work will start during September. The building work will take at least 12 months.

Sarah added: “It is anticipated that all this activity will delay the build by approximately eight weeks.

“We appreciate that many people have been waiting for building work to begin for a long time and we hope they will be pleased to hear we have grown income to a level where the whole build may be possible.

“This means we can concentrate on fundraising for equipment costs, ongoing costs and we still need to fundraise for the Hospice At Home service due to begin at the end of this year.”