Construction of the multi-million pound Walsall Hospice is taking shape as the 20-year campaign for the much-needed centre edges closer to its target.

These images show how the £5.5 million complex is coming together on the former Goscote Hospital site, with work due to finish at the end of the year. The hospice, known as the

Palliative Care Centre, is to have 12 inpatient beds and a day hospice for 20 patients and outpatients. A dedicated dementia unit is also being built on the site.

The foundations for the borough’s first-ever adult hospice were laid in November in preparation for the construction of the complex from December.

It had been originally hoped to begin in May but contracts with the Healthcare Improvement Partnership were agreed only in the autumn.

The visual signs of the hospice being built comes as a major boost to campaigners who have fought for more than two decades for such a health facility in the borough.

Julian Rainsford, director of estates for NHS Walsall, said: “I am really pleased with the progress that has been made.

“We are on track to deliver the project and are very much looking forward to seeing the results of all the hard work that has gone into the planning and building of Walsall’s Palliative Care Centre.”

Currently, patients have to travel out of the area to sites such as St Giles Hospice, based near Lichfield, or Compton Hospice, in Wolverhampton, for care.

A £1.5m fundraising appeal has been launched to help pay for the equipment and running costs of the hospice.

A series of events and activities are being held to reach the target.

It included more than 1,000 people descending on Walsall Arboretum last autumn for the first Starlight Walk.

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

The success of the stroll around the borough’s premier park has led fundraisers to fix a date of September 17 this year for another similar event.

Another fundraising campaign this summer is called Walsall Wears Yellow, with community groups, workplaces and schools urged to don yellow clothes for the day and donate cash at the same time.