SOUTH-East Cambridgeshire MP Jim Paice has backed our campaign to support the Milton Hospice. Mr Paice went along to the hospice in November when the each charity learned it was to lose its lottery grant. The funding blow – the loss of a £200,000 yearly i

SOUTH-East Cambridgeshire MP Jim Paice has backed our campaign to support the Milton Hospice. Mr Paice went along to the hospice in November when the each charity learned it was to lose its lottery grant. The funding blow - the loss of a £200,000 yearly income - could mean 25 full-time care worker posts may have to go.

Mr Paice said: "The children's hospice in Milton provides unique in-house care to children from across Cambridgeshire and I will do everything to help the each team mitigate the effects of the serious funding constraints they face. Having seen first-hand the excellent work of the Milton Children's Hospice, I do not hesitate to support the Ely Standard's campaign.

Malcom Moss, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, also agreed to back our campaign when we contacted him this week.

"I signed an Early Day Motion put down by an East Anglian Conservative member calling on the Government to be more supportive of children's hospices".

In 2000, the Government earmarked £48 million for children's palliative care through its Big Lottery Fund. The Milton Hospice has been receiving some of this allocation, but this money runs out next month and the Government has not made any provision to replace the funding.

"The loss of the lottery grant is a big blow and we all have concerns about the future," said Milton's hospice manager Carl Harris.

"The one thing I would say about the team here is that we all support each other. We are in contact every day and we take strength from that, however difficult things become.