Children's hospice which was set to close is given a 'lifeline'

A cash-strapped children's hospice which was set to close, will stay open for four more months after receiving a grant.

Acorns announced it would be closing its Walsall site in June this year because of a lack of funding.

But local healthcare commissioners and NHS England have given them enough money to stay open until at least March 2020.

That will give them time to launch a major public appeal to raise funds to support the hospice for years to come, says the charity.

Mark Lyttle's 11-year-old daughter Isabella died in April after being in the hospice's care for eight years:

These pledges have created a lifeline for our vital services in the Black Country. We will now do all we can to raise the final funds we need to secure the hospice’s longer-term future by appealing to the local community for their support.