The construction of Walsall’s first-ever adult hospice is on track to finally get under way, marking the end of a 20-year campaign.

Work on the £5.5million scheme is to start on the old Goscote Hospital site in Goscote Lane at the end of next month after a number of delays. Contracts with the Healthcare Improvement Partnership are to be finalised within days and workers will move in within weeks. It will come as a major boost to campaigners who have fought for more than two decades for a hospice for adults in the borough.

Work on the multi-million pound palliative care centre scheme was due to start in May. Health bosses are confident it will meet the new target date.

The development includes rehabilitation and specialist nursing with Macmillan bereavement and counselling services.

The palliative care centre includes 12 inpatient beds and a day hospice for 20 patients and outpatients.

Currently patients travel to St Giles Hospice, near Lichfield, or Compton Hospice, Wolverhampton.

Julian Rainsford, director of estates at NHS Walsall, said:”We are now in the final stages of agreeing the contract with our development partner, the Healthcare Improvement Partnership.

“This agreement will be completed this month, with a start on the construction of the new building in October.”

Around £1.5m of funding is needed to help equip the hospice with the first-class facilities it needs.

Some 1,000 people descended on Walsall Arboretum this month for the inaugural Starlight Walk event in a bid to raise £20,000 towards the running costs.

Streetly songbird Connie Talbot and BBC radio presenter Joanne Malin were among the crowds.

Eight-year-old Connie kickstarted the walk by singing three of her numbers, while bands, entertainers and a funfair helped make it a packed evening of family fun.