TWENTY-FIVE years of caring for people has required more than man power and medicine for one Bolton institution.

As Bolton Hospice celebrates two and a half decades, it is time to look back at how the charity has been helped each step of the way by the community which surrounds it.

The charity first opened the facility on the site overlooking Queens Park, just off Chorley New Road, in 1992 but it took nearly eight years of fundraising to get it off the ground in the first place.

Volunteer Ann Brooks has supported the hospice from its inception along with her husband Keith, a former trustee, who passed away in 2009.

She said: "I worked on the fundraising committee in Astley Bridge before it was built then transferred to the hospice and worked on the wards.

"We raised a lot of money towards the plans for the hospice and were asked to join the committee in Astley Bridge. The town was split up into different committees.

"The contribution of the community is so important. People in Bolton have helped to raise money to keep it going and they are very generous people.

"The hospice is an important part of Bolton.

"To be honest i don't know where the years have gone, they have absolutely flown by and I am lucky to still be part of it."

A need for hospice care in Bolton was first recognised by the Bolton Royal Infirmary Centenary Appeal and the District Health Authority financially supported the project.

Bolton Hospice opened in March 1992 and was visited in December by Anne, Duchess of Norfolk, who became the Hospice’s President.

The hospice needs to raise more than £3.2 million every year to help it continue to provide specialist care and support for people facing life-limiting illnesses, and their families.

As a result, individuals, groups and communities have sent many years helping to keep the charity going.

Be it a raffle, climbing Britain's highest peaks, colourful foods, fancy dress or skydiving out of aeroplanes, both the young and old have contributed their pennies and pounds.

Among some of the most memorable moments is the gathering of hundreds of supporters in the town centre to walk in memory of their loved ones.

The Midnight Memories Walk stepped out for its tenth anniversary last year and has more than 1.2 million for patients and their families – the equivalent of 75,000 hours of specialist care.

Money raised over the years has gone to help building up the hospice which supports more than 750 patients a year with the help of 100 staff and 900 volunteers.

Ten years after opening, the hospice afford a £1.5 million extension with a Day Therapy Unit providing a range of services for patients who did not need or want to be admitted into the Inpatient Unit.

It also extended from two bed bays to 14 individual rooms for patients.

Fundraising work by volunteers was later recognised with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2004 and in 2007 The Bolton News-run appeal raised £100,000 to transform the garden and Princess Alexandra visited to officially open the newly-named Garden of Tranquillity.

The hospice continues to expand its facilities this year, while volunteers continue to provide their support.

Alice Atkinson, hospice director of income generation and communications, said: "Bolton Hospice only exists because of the passion, dedication and hard work of those who were committed to making the dream of a hospice for Bolton a reality all those years ago.

"We are only able to celebrate 25 years of care now thanks to them, and to everyone in our local community who has supported us with their donations and remarkable fundraising efforts since.

"I never fail to be amazed and inspired by the support and generosity of the people of Bolton and want to say a huge thank you to every single person who has donated or supported us and helped us to reach this wonderful milestone."