Martin House expansion plans

The Boston Spa-based facility is hoping to build a new wing to create bigger children’s bedrooms and a new block housing a hydrotherapy pool as part of the project.

If approved, it will be the biggest expansion of the hospice since it built Whitby Lodge – its teenage and young adult unit – in 2002.

Martin Warhurst, chief executive at Martin House, said: “Submitting our plans is a major milestone for us.

“We have been working closely with our families, staff and volunteers since 2016 to develop this project.

“Martin House has been a home-from-home for our families for more than 30 years but in that time our homes have changed, and we need to do the same.

“Thanks to advances in medicine during that time, children are now living longer, with more complex nursing needs, and the demand on our specialist palliative care is increasing.

“We want to ensure that we continue to meet their needs, both now and for another 30 years.”

Martin House cares for more than 400 babies, children and young people with life-limited conditions from across West, North and East Yorkshire, and supports a further 150 bereaved families.

Plans include: a new wing of nine children’s bedrooms with en suite bathrooms; parents’ bedrooms and two extra family rooms for brothers and sisters; living, dining and kitchen area for families; new two-storey block with a hydrotherapy pool, education and meeting space, and office space for non-care staff; an ‘orangery’ for Whitby Lodge.

The current children’s bedrooms, lounge and dining areas will be converted into a mixture of therapy rooms, and there will also be space for day care – currently most children come to Martin House for extended respite stays for three to four days at a time.