THANKS to a timely injection of cash from the Department of Health, Acorns children's hospice will be re-opening the four beds it was forced to close at the beginning of the year.

Following the announcement earlier in the summer that the government would be giving £27 million to children's hospices, Acorns has learnt that it will receive £1 million from the Department of Health.

But the charity is emphasising that this very large drop in the funding ocean could prove as finite as the lottery funding which ended last year.

"Income from our local communities and businesses dwarfs the funding announced by the government," said John Overton, Acorns' chief executive.

"It costs more than £6 million a year to run our three hospices and provide community team support to families.

"Even though this funding is extremely welcome, we continue to rely heavily on the support from the community, especially this Christmas when our services will, as always, be stretched to the limit."

Almost 30 posts will need to be filled before the beds can re-open.

To find out more about Acorns, visit www.acorns. org.uk Meanwhile, having just graduated from Herefordshire College of Technology's Foundation Degree in Learning Support, Angela Ayliffe and Jane Cox are donning their walking boots to trek across New Zealand to raise £4,000 for Acorns where Angela is a volunteer.

The trip is planned for early 2007. Any one interested in sponsoring the trek can contact Jane, HCT marketing officer on ext 377.