THE REFURBISHED Oak House at Earl Mountbatten Hospice will cater for the "Island's forgotten people", said chief executive Nigel Hartley.

Currently, the hospice can support over 600 people in their own homes on any one day and has a 16-bed inpatient unit.

However, space is tight and the soon-to-be refurbished Oak House will give the charity room to expand.

The care-coordination centre will feature flexible spaces that will focus on catering for specific groups and needs.

There will be a bespoke children's area, which the hospice is working closely with KissyPuppy to develop.

Nigel said: "Children and young adults are one of the groups we are looking at.

"Particularly on the Island they remain a part of this forgotten group. There is no children's hospice.

"We are going to be working with KissyPuppy to make sure we have the right version of what is needed for the Island."

The new building will also focus on providing support and care for people who are in the last years of their lives.

"There are 3,000 to 5,000 people on the Island who are currently living but they are dying over a long period of time. Normally those people would only get access to our services right at the end of their lives. We want to try and do is find them earlier. We will identify the forgotten people in the last years of their lives," said Nigel.

The new building will feature rooms to deliver specialist training on site and there will be spaces specifically for support and recruitment.

KissyPuppy has pledged £300,000 towards the £1.5 million needed to refurbish Oak House and the charity are looking for grants to help, as well as planning fundraising events to cover any gaps.

Nigel said he didn't want the local community to feel the burden of fundraising fell entirely on them: "They do a fantastic job and the IW is so supportive. We just want them to keep doing what they are doing."

Underpinning the project is a conversation the hospice wants to have with the local community to help them feel more at ease with death, dying and bereavement.

Nigel said: "Most of us would prefer not to talk about it while we are healthy but if we put in a little bit of planning in while we are healthy it has a huge impact on the resources needed for people when they come to the end of their lives."

"That sounds scary, a lot of people would prefer not to do it. But we are the experts and we need people to be able to trust us and remain confident that we are able to manage that process."

The hospice are planning a series of events over the next year to encourage conversation about death and encourage people to visit the hospice - regardless of whether they are a patient or relative.

"It's going to be an exciting year - we've come to the end of our 35th anniversary and we are looking forward to the future."