This week, we marked the official start of the building work at our Ayrshire Hospice redevelopment project with a breaking ground ceremony.

We were also joined by representatives from NHS Ayrshire & Arran and the three local authorities. Attendees included Provost Iain Campbell and Chief Executive Eileen Howat from South Ayrshire Council. In addition to Craig McArthur, Director of Health and Social Care Partnership for East Ayrshire Council and Russell McCutcheon, Executive Director for North Ayrshire Council. NHS Ayrshire & Arran Chief Executive Claire Burden was also in attendance to mark the significant project milestone.

Ayrshire Hospice Chief Executive Tracy Flynn led the ground breaking ceremony as work begins to transform the site.

We began site clearing and demolition in December last year. We are now ready to begin construction to deliver a facility Ayrshire can be proud of.

Works include the demolition and refurbishment of some of the existing buildings. As well as the construction of new extensions forming a state-of-the-art new build In-Patient Unit (IPU) and a modern Hub building providing connectivity through the ‘heart of the Hospice’.

Before works began, the existing facilities had been vacated whereby enabling the demolition and new construction works to progress without any adverse impact on the Hospice patients and staff.

The IPU extension bends towards the south-east so as to maximise the south-facing number of rooms. As well as allowing for a larger garden to the north-east.

The Hub, located at the main entrance, functions as the social heart of the hospice hosting a series of public and user friendly functional areas such as the entrance lobby and reception. The space also hosts a small Hospice shop, and a café with public access and opening onto the new courtyard.

A secondary lounge space for staff is also housed within the Hub, along with a staff library and training suite, and a large flexible area that can be adapted into a boardroom, a celebration space or a lecture suite.

This is a historic milestone for the Ayrshire Hospice and, as a team, we are so excited to start building our new hospice which will be a centre of excellence for palliative and end of life care for the people of Ayrshire and Arran, right here in Racecourse Road.

Tracy Flynn

Chief Executive at Ayrshire Hospice

McLaughlin & Harvey is delighted to have marked the first official milestone of our Ayrshire Hospice project. We bring with us a wealth of previous healthcare experience, and look forward to undertaking the substructure and structural works on this meaningful project in the coming weeks.

John McClintock

Operations Director at McLaughlin & Harvey

The breaking ground ceremony is a seminal moment for our new hospice as work begins to lay down foundations. Although this substructure is something that people can’t see, it is arguably one of the most crucial points of the project from which our new infrastructure will be built.

Tom Steele

Chair of the Ayrshire Hospice Board of Trustees

Breaking Ground is the first major milestone in what will be an amazing new facility for the Hospice. Over the coming months work will progress onto foundations, the superstructure and then the roof before moving into the interior fit-out. It’s exciting to be not only creating a wonderful facility for patients, relatives and staff but helping to contribute to our sustainable future.

Andrew Baillie

Ayrshire Hospice Trustee and Chair of the Capital Project Governance Committee