The £3.5 million transformation of a Black Country hospice was today taking shape, as bosses revealed an appeal fund helping the project go ahead had raised £200,000 in donations.

Eighteen en-suite rooms are being created at Wolverhampton’s Compton Hospice, which treats patients from across the West Midlands.

Patients were transferred to the Nuffield Hospital in Tettenhall at the start of the summer to allow the revamp to get under way.

Scaffolding has now been installed on site and buildings are being stripped to allow the new look to take shape. The project is expected to take 18 months to take shape.

Sue Chance, head of PR and fundraising at the hospice, said: “The contractors began work at the start of August, and things are really moving on.

“The scaffolding has just gone up, ready to begin work on the roof, and the builders are currently in the process of carrying out internal works, stripping out the existing buildings. ”

A new therapy suite opened its doors last month as part of the redevelopment. It has moved from the main site to its new Cedars premises on Compton Road West in a former three-bedroom flat, located above the lymphoedema out-patient clinic.

The hospice launched an appeal called Raise the Roof  to try and collect £1m through public donations towards the cost of the building at the end of April.

And bosses said that the appeal fund has now topped just over £200,000.