Manorlands, the Sue Ryder Home in Oxenhope, is planning to set up a satellite day care unit in Skipton at a cost of £450,000.

Hospice staff are seeking land in the town and holding talks with North Yorkshire Health Authority in a bid to win support for the ambitious scheme.

The specialist palliative care home has recently appointed Austin Duffy as corporate sponsorship manager, whose job is to encourage big business to back the project.

"We already have one big player interested. We can't reveal the name yet, but they are a Bradford company," he said.

""It is a very exciting period for us. It's a new chapter in the life of the organisation. We feel it is the way forward.''

The new unit would provide day care and specialist home care nursing for people living from Skipton to Kirkby Lonsdale and covering much of the western Dales area.

The Sue Ryder Home at Manorlands, which has 18 beds, had seen a big increase in its work in the community, he said. It now provides care in people's own homes by specially-qualified nurses and day care services as well as bereavement support, counselling and support for relatives.

He said the decision to establish a permanent facility in Skipton was as a result of the success of the outreach unit which had been running in Skipton for about two years

Manorlands Matron Ann Chamberlain said: "It's a very exciting time for us because we are providing other services in the community. I am very optimistic about the future but at the same time cautious because there is still a long way to go.''

Last year people gave Manorlands £312,468 with a further £358,269 coming from legacies. Income last year was £1,073,662, an all time high, but members were told at the recent annual meeting that without the legacies, the organisation would be vulnerable. Total expenditure in 1998 was £907,726.

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