Zoe's Place hospice saved by huge charity appeal

A Liverpool hospice which cares for babies and young children has been saved from closure after the local community raised more than £6m in a month.

Zoe's Place, which helps children aged under five with chronic or life-limiting conditions, recently announced it would have to shut at the end of the year.

Now the charity's trustees have confirmed it had received enough money from individuals and businesses to remain open.

Liverpool-based retailer TJ Morris Ltd, which trades as Home Bargains, pledged £2.5m of the £6.4m target, while local businesses including sportswear firm Montirex and the Hot Water Comedy Club raised hundreds of thousands.

Speaking at the hospice as news of its survival was announced, fundraiser Gina Earnshaw said the past few weeks had been "all-consuming".

But she added: "All the stress and all the emotion it has been worth it for this moment right now."

Michelle Wright, head of care at the hospice, said: "Words cannot express how I feel.

"The fact that we can continue to support our children and families means everything and is all every member of the team has wanted to do."

When it was announced on 7 October that the hospice in Yew Tree Lane, West Derby, would have to close, several affected families spoke of their devastation.

Stephanie Perry, whose three-year-old daughter Robyn attends twice a week, said: "There's nowhere else we can take our children, our babies, where they're looked after, where they're safe and that we trust."

Zoe's Place, which also operates in Middlesbrough and Coventry, opened in Liverpool in 1995.

In October it said a plan to move to a new purpose-built site nearby had fallen through due to spiralling costs and a lack of time.

The planned closure meant 41 members of staff faced losing their jobs.

It later emerged the charity could not use the building beyond June 2025 because the building and land owners, Catholic order The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, were leaving and selling up.

Hopes were restored after a fundraising campaign, supported by West Derby MP Ian Byrne, gained traction with the public in Merseyside and beyond.

Mr Byrne said he "could not be more proud right now to be a Scouser".

"From kids dropping their pocket money into a collection bucket, and elderly people donating their pension, to local businesses organising fundraising events and celebrities giving generously of their time and money, it really has felt like the whole city has come together over the last four weeks to save Zoe’s – just as I knew they would," he said.

Zoe's Place said the fundraising effort included comedy gigs and other sponsored events as well as support from some of the city’s more well-known sons and daughters.

Ex-Liverpool footballer Robbie Fowler, musician Jamie Webster, mixed martial arts fighters Paddy Pimblett and Meatball Molly, and comedians John Bishop and Adam Rowe have joined the campaign.

Staff from the Liverpool Echo newspaper also conducted a sponsored walk from their city centre office to West Derby.

Zoe's Place said a new charity had been formed to take on sole responsibility for the Liverpool site and overseeing the construction of a new hospice.

Mr Byrne also vowed to raise the wider issue of funding for children's hospices in parliament.

He presented a bill on children’s hospice funding to Parliament on 29 October, requiring the government to conduct a review of funding for hospices specialising in the care of children and to guarantee access to hospices for all children who need palliative care.

On 30 October he secured a Westminster Hall debate on the issue and has written to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.