'True legacy': Sir Gareth Southgate opens new-look £21.9m Martin House Children's Hospice

Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate has opened the newly redeveloped Martin House Children’s Hospice today (June 5) and has said that he hopes the transformation will make the hospice “a brilliant space for years to come”.

Sir Gareth performed the ceremonial ribbon cutting this morning at a special event attended by families who receive care from Martin House, supporters, staff, and community partners.

The BUILD is a new £21.9m project designed to modernise and expand the Boston Spa hospice, creating new specialist facilities for children and young people with life-shortening conditions, and their families.

Sir Gareth said that he believes has “completely modernised” the care that Martin House can provide.

“We’ve been able to future proof the building as well which is hugely important for the next 20+ years and most importantly, we’ve been able to keep the homely feel that families experience when they come here.”

“We’re all very proud that the whole community has come together to support this and everybody in Yorkshire that’s been able to contribute, we just say thank you because we’ve been able to leave something here that is a true legacy.”

New facilities at Martin House include a hydrotherapy pool, immersive sensory room, recording studio, and enhanced clinical spaces.

Alongside a new children’s wing and refurbished teenage wing, a new Education Centre will expand specialist palliative care training across the region.

It was a visit to Martin House around ten years ago while dressed as Father Christmas that first inspired Sir Gareth’s long-standing support of the charity as an ambassador.

Over the years, meeting children and families who benefit from Martin House’s specialised care has enabled Sir Gareth to witness how vital the hospice is to the Leeds community.

“It’s an amazing, warm environment. It’s the saddest and the happiest of places in equal measures so it really does have a big impact on you when you come,” Sir Gareth said.

“(The families) can speak more eloquently than I can about the impact that’s had but it’s very clear how much they value the expertise here, the friendliness, now the really modern facilities that are going to add to that and it’s real specialist care, and it benefits the whole of Yorkshire.”

Work on The BUILD began in autumn 2023, following Martin House’s largest ever appeal and Sir Gareth said he is “enormously proud” of the fundraising efforts from the Martin House team.

Sir Gareth said: “The team here have done an amazing job to reach such an ambitious target.”

“But also, it feels like the whole of Yorkshire have stepped up and even as an honorary rather than born and bred Yorkshireman, that has made me very proud.

The redevelopment reflects the changing needs of children receiving hospice care, as clinical advancements mean children are living longer with increasingly complex conditions.

Sir Gareth described Martin House as a “homely, emotional, and caring” environment which supports families during “critical moments” in a young person’s life.

He hopes that the new refurbishment will enable more children, their parents, and siblings to access Martin House when they need it most.

“We’re a big county and sadly there are a lot of families who have a need for this facility and actually it seems to be growing,” Sir Gareth said.

“It’s brilliant that we’re able to support more and more families because we’ve got more space now.”