GRACE’S Place is looking for its first staff members – and the money to fund them.

The soon-to-open children’s hospice in Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, is recruiting its first four children’s nurses.

And the hospice’s new service provider, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, is also launching a ‘Kickstart Campaign’ to raise £60,000 to fund the posts for the first six months and is asking for support from the local communities around Bury and north Greater Manchester.

Kirsty Franks, interim general manager at Grace’s Place, said: “Forget Me Not only announced on June 21 that we’re taking over Grace’s Place, but we already know that there are lots of individuals, groups, schools and businesses who are waiting in the wings to help get Grace’s Place off to a fantastic start.

“The community in north Manchester is very keen for us to start caring for local children as quickly as possible, which is why we’re wasting no time getting the recruitment drive started.

“We’ve got a fantastic building already, thanks to the phenomenal hard work of supporters in the past, but now we need the staff to go with it.”

She said the Kickstart Campaign will enable the hospice to get a good team in place for delivering the Hospice at Home service in time for Christmas.

“We’ll then continue to fundraise to keep those people in post and to expand the team to include administrative, estates and fundraising roles,” added Ms Franks.

“We aim to open up the building itself to families within a year, once it is furnished and equipped and everything is in place.

“I’m very pleased that, as our ambitious plans develop, we’ll be bringing more and more jobs to the area.”

Individuals, groups and businesses are being encouraged to contribute to the Kickstart Campaign by donating online.

To find the campaign’s JustGiving page, search online for ‘Grace’s Place Kickstart’.

Ms Franks said: “The sooner we can raise the £60,000, the sooner we’ll have our nurses in place and the sooner we can start looking after children with life-shortening conditions.”

Supporters can follow the latest developments at Grace’s Place on Facebook and Twitter by searching for @GracesPlaceFMN or by going to www.forgetmenotchild.co.uk/gracesplace