Jobs and shops safe as two Bedfordshire hospices merge

Two charities are to merge in a bid to support more patients and attract and retain staff and volunteers.

Keech Hospice Care, based in Luton, and Bedford Daycare Hospice will join forces with immediate effect.

Jobs will be safe and both hospice sites will remain open in their current locations, a spokesperson confirmed.

Liz Searle, chief executive of Keech Hospice Care, said their "combined efforts will ensure even more people in our community benefit from them."

Shops run by both charities will also operate as normal.

Bedford Daycare Hospice, which has 80 volunteers and more than 20 staff, is an independent charity that provides holistic day care to adults in north and mid Bedfordshire living with life-limiting conditions.

Keech Hospice Care provides specialist care for adults in Luton and south Bedfordshire, and children throughout Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes.

It has more than 1,500 volunteers and 260 staff.

Ms Searle will remain in her role.

She said: "Merging the two organisations will help us reach and support more patients throughout our community and attract and retain outstanding clinical professionals, staff and volunteers.

"Both hospices are already well-known for the outstanding quality of care they provide."

The Keech Hospice board of trustees will now include representatives from both organisations.

Donald Parsons, chair of trustees at Bedford Daycare Hospice, says the charity had faced challenges, but it was "wonderful to know that our legacy will go from strength to strength and is in safe hands".

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