As Britain tried to drag itself out of recession, Wolverhampton’s Compton Hospice was hoping to take itself into the 21st century.

But bosses and volunteers were left with a struggle greater than they had faced in more than three decades of caring for patients coming to the end of their lives.

The hospice had to take £500,000 out of its reserves to complete the refurbishment after it missed out on half of its £1 million fundraising target – an inevitable consequence of the financial downturn felt around the world.

Against the odds, the hospice has now completed work on the new in-patient unit which will provide state of the art care.

Patients will be cared for at the Compton Road site once more from August.

For the past year patients have been looked after at the nearby Nuffield Hospital in Tettenhall.

The whole interior of the hospice building has been redeveloped in the year-long project. The rebuilt unit has 18 single, en-suite patient rooms, improving patient privacy and dignity, as well as redeveloped day care facilities and consulting and therapy areas.

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