FOR people like Kevin Barry who may not have long left Sobell House is much more than a hospice.

It is a place where people can live out their last days in as much comfort and with as many laughs as possible.

It is a place where family members and friends can learn that life goes on after loss.

And more people than ever need its help.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: 

The Oxford Mail is pledging to raise £40,000 for the Headington hospice: to pay for 100 days of care.

This year marks 40 years since the hospice began offering specialist care to Oxfordshire's terminally-ill, and it signals a pivotal moment in the next page of its history book.

Staff need an extra £4m to pay for an ambitious project costing £9m to build a new dementia-friendly clinic and garden annex. It's in response to an ageing population and staff at Sobell House Hospice hope to raise the money so that building work can start next year.

Kevin Barry has terminal colon cancer and is a ward patient at the hospice. The 86-year-old grandad who lives in Bicester has said the centre has been marvellous and a 'godsend' for him.

He moved into a bed at Sobell last week after his condition took a turn for the worst but said he wasn't nervous because his brother died in the same ward and he knew about the fantastic care by staff.

He has just a few parting words about our fundraising pledge: "I do hope you are successful."

Mr Barry is one of thousands who have been cared for by nurses and doctors in the ward, and volunteers in the day centre, who know all of their patients by name.

The hospice's comforting arm extends out into the community from its base at the Churchill Hospital, offering support to families in their homes as well as those who stay in the ward beds or visit the day centre.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, whose wife Val died at the hospice last May after a hard-fought battle with cancer, described its care as very special and enormously comforting.

He said: "This fundraising initiative is really important and will enable this standard of care to be extended to many more people.

"We all owe a debt of thanks to all of the doctors, nursing staff, volunteers and those who make the quality of provision possible."

Since the launch of Sobell's fundraising mission hit the Oxford Mail's front page in January, scores of individuals, groups and businesses have rallied around the cause and come up with a sum that hospice staff described as overwhelming.

But millions of pounds are still needed to support the hospice's expansion plans - which is where you come in.

We are asking you to help us help them, and in turn help the county's residents as they struggle to survive incurable disease and debilitating old age.

This special edition of Oxford Mail seeks to shed light on the fantastic work they do and, with your support, will continue to do for decades to come.