A campaign to raise more than £700,000 towards a new support centre for people with life-limiting illnesses has today been successful.

The Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund (HCNCF) has been working on the project for the past five years after realising there was a need for the service in the town.

The new information and support centre (ISC) will provide patients and their families with benefits advice, complementary therapies, counselling and bereavement support.

And with funding now in place, it is hoping for construction work to begin early next year once planning permission has been secured.

It will be built on land next to Cutlers Hill Surgery in Halesworth, and will be available for anyone living within a 15-mile radius of the town.

People suffering from any life-limiting illness, including cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be able to use the centre.

Barbara Kell, the charity's secretary, first came up with the idea for the service five years ago while working as a nurse co-ordinator.

She said: 'We realised we needed something like this here [in Halesworth] because our patients had to travel 30 miles to get any help and support.

'We just want to thank everyone in the community who has helped us to reach this target.'

The new centre will employ three members of staff and representatives from a number of charities, including the Big C, will be based there during the week.

It is hoped that construction will begin in 2017, with the centre opening in early 2018.

A recent £55,605 donation from the Patrick Stead League of Friends enabled the HCNCF to reach its target for the project.

Ted Edwards, ISC chairman, said: 'We are incredibly grateful to the Friends for this fantastic donation, which has helped us reach our fundraising target in just over two years.

'We will be continuing to raise money over the coming months to pay for the building's running costs so that we can make sure it provides the widest range of services for local people when it opens in early 2018.'

For more information about the ISC project, or to make a donation, visit www.halesworthhealth.org/information-and-support-centre

Are you raising money for a new service? Call Luke Powell on 01603 772684.