A group of construction students from Stourbridge College were offered a rare look behind-the-scenes at one of the area's largest ongoing building projects.

Mary Stevens Hospice in Oldswinford is currently undergoing a £3 million regeneration, as the charity updates its day services facility in order to make specialist care available to more families in the local area.

While the build is ongoing, the Hospice have been forced to relocate their day patients to a temporary home on site and reduce the service from 17 patients per day to 10. However, once the build is complete, capacity will increase to 25 patients per day in order to meet heavily increased demand for care over the last 5 years.

Wolverhampton-based firm AM Griffiths & Son broke ground on the project in July 2017 and are working towards a completion date in late-2018, at which point Hospice staff will begin the process of moving into their new and improved building. Stevan Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, Mary Stevens Hospice Group said:

“It was a privilege to welcome students from Stourbridge College for their visit to see a live construction site and ask questions about our current £3 million refurbishment project.

"I think it is important for us to offer students the opportunity to learn from what we do here so that they can better understand the community in which they live and where they hope to work. It also helps us to raise awareness of our charitable work.”

In order to raise the £3.5 million required to pay for the expansion project, the Hospice Fundraising Team have been tirelessly working to raise the additional funds, on top of their annual £2.8 million needed to keep the hospice open every year.

Through various avenues including support from local companies, grants, trusts and major donors, Hospice fundraisers have identified £2.5 million against the cost of the build, however they still require an additional £1 million in order to complete the project. In order to raise that final million, the Hospice team will be turning to their local community to help them through upcoming community engagement initiatives, launching at the end of February 2018.

Members of the community can make a donation towards the £3.5 million online through Stourbridge-based online fundraising platform GivePenny. Brendan Oakley, Business Development Director, AM Griffiths & Son said:

“Our MD, Richard, was keen to demonstrate AMG’s continued commitment to give something back to both the local community and industry by providing an excellent opportunity to inform and educate students about the significance of Health and Safety on site and the importance of providing a quality building product that exceeds the clients expectations. Something AMG have proudly achieved for over 118 years.

"The students got valuable experience and learned first-hand from AMG’s on site team about the opportunities that working in construction can offer, in an industry that is currently crying out for construction professionals.”

Students and staff from Stourbridge College were quick to complement all involved in the visit for the opportunity they received. Mozz Baker, Senior Lecturer at Stourbridge College said:

"To fit in with the curriculum currently being studied the visit was focussed on Health, Safety and Welfare aspects of construction and we experienced a site safety induction. The tour around the site enabled us to look closely at the build which has many interesting and challenging aspects to it.

"The students were able to get first-hand knowledge from experienced professional and see all three main parties to a contract, the client, the designer and the contactor, together at the same time, a rare and very valuable opportunity."