What wonderful and exciting news that the Children's Hospice South West (CHSW) is planning to raise the money for a new children's hospice within Cornwall. For the huge number of stalwart supporters in Cornwall, this has always been our dream, to complete the final piece of the jigsaw in providing, through Little Bridge House in North Devon and Charlton Farm in Somerset as well as a Cornish hospice, triple-care facilities and choice, for the many families in the region who so desperately need the quality care and experience that the children's hospice charity has been able to provide for more than 11 years. The site has yet to be decided but will be practically located to serve the whole of the county, and it will certainly be tailored to meet the needs of our children and young people with life-limiting conditions. As a charity, CHSW has built up a great reputation for providing first-class care and top quality facilities and those of us who have visited both Little Bridge House and Charlton Farm can be confident that that acquired experience will be even more evident in a new hospice in our county. The cost will be around £5m but the vast networking that goes on throughout the region through the Friends groups such as our Liskeard and Looe groups means we can be absolutely confident that the kind and extremely generous people of the South West will back this project wholeheartedly. As a small group ourselves, though a very established one for the past 15 years, during the last 12 months we were able to send off to CHSW £14,000 which came in through a variety of different means but only because of the amazing generosity and creativity of our local folk whom we thank most sincerely. Hardly a week goes by without someone contacting us with an idea or an event or asking us to collect money. Our next event to plan for is a charity shop to follow on from the success of last year's. This is to run in Liskeard at the end of September to coincide with St Matthew's Fair and we would be very pleased to accept any items to sell. Give me a call on 01579 344816 and I will arrange collection. So a big thank you to everyone and we look forward to another very profitable year ahead to help bring that much-needed support to as many families as possible who sadly need this kind of specialised care.

GWYNETH McLOUGHLIN Chair – Liskeard Friends Group CHSW