A CHILDREN'S charity which plans to close a hospice forcing families across the West Midlands to get support in Worcester has been handed a potential boost by the NHS.

Acorns, which has a hospice in Worcester, announced it would be "reluctantly" closing its Walsall hospice due to the increasing cost of providing care, a fall in donations, a downturn in its High Street charity shops and uncertainty over the future of NHS funding.

The charity said around 80 families would be moved to Worcester if its Walsall hospice closed.

The cash-strapped charity has however been handed a boost by NHS England who announced it would be ring-fencing £25 million to support children's hospices by 2024.

Chief executive Toby Porter said: “If the proposed closure of Walsall is confirmed, all children and families currently receiving their care from the Walsall hospice will be invited to access the services at one of our other two children’s hospices, located in Birmingham and Worcester.

"Our absolute priority will be to demonstrate to these families that they will still be able to receive the high standards of care from Acorns that they are used to receiving at our Walsall hospice.

“Children and families already accessing our Worcester and Birmingham hospices will not be impacted, whatever the outcome of the Walsall proposal.

"The Worcester hospice is an outstanding facility, with the staff, space, facilities and grounds to continue to deliver the same high levels of care, even if the number of families it supports increase.”