Youth hospice reaches milestone

The copper was recently stolen from the site of Naomi House's new hospice

The ongoing construction of a £12m hospice for young people will be marked with a topping out ceremony attended by former cricketer David Gower.

Jacksplace will provide palliative care and support to young people who have outgrown facilities at Naomi House in Sutton Scotney, Hampshire.

Hospice chair Professor Khalid Aziz had feared delays as the charity invested £5.7m in a collapsed Icelandic bank.

Its cash is tied up with Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander.

Financial crisis

Earlier this month, Prof Aziz wrote to Sir Fred Goodwin, the former Royal Bank of Scotland boss, urging him to donate £100,000-a-year to the hospice.

Sir Fred's pension has been revealed to be worth £703,000-a-year.

In February, almost 100 feet (30 metres) of copper piping worth £600 was stolen from the building site of the new hospice.

The theft came after charities minister Kevin Brennan told the hospice in a letter "he could offer no direct assistance".

Naomi House - which looks after terminally-ill children in Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, the Isle of Wight, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire - suspended its community outreach home service in December because of its financial crisis.