AN MP spoke with hospice patients yesterday when he toured its new annexe.

St Teresa’s Hospice, in Darlington, completed a £1.1m refurbishment last year, including its Woodlands Annexe for its family support team.

Town MP Alan Milburn visited yesterday and spoke to staff and patients.

The hospice runs services for people with life-limiting illnesses, including day care, respite care, in-patient facilities and bereavement services. The annexe has allowed the hospice to expand its pioneering services for children who have lost loved ones. The hospice, which was founded in the Eighties and moved to Woodland Road a decade ago, also provides more than 800 hours of services in people’s homes a year.

Hospice director Jane Bradshaw said: “Since we have been in this building, we have built the sensory room, converted the basement for extended office space and we have built the new annexe.”

The extension was partfunded by £515,000 from the Government, with the rest from the public.