HIDDEN away off the hustle and bustle of a busy main street, there is a haven for people going through some of the most difficult days of their lives.

Thousands of individuals and families from all walks of life have found comfort and advice behind the four walls of the Bolton Hospice.

In the past two-and-a-half decades, it has supported people with cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and other life-limiting illnesses with palliative and end of life care.

Now in its silver anniversary year, the hospice continues to expand and spread its wings over the community.

Behind its doors, about 100 staff and anywhere up to 900 volunteers work round the clock to keep the cogs ticking.

Since opening its doors on March, 1992, on the site overlooking Queens Park, off Chorley New Road, it has gone from a two bed bays to 14 individual rooms and a Day Therapy Unit.

As a local charity, it needs to raise around £3.2 million a year to fund its work.

Volunteer Ann Brooks has supported the hospice from its inception along with her husband Keith, a former trustee, who died 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 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.”

Today, its warren of rooms provide end-of-life care for 250 patients a year, 90 per cent of whom suffer from cancer.

Unlike hospitals families can be with their loved ones 24 hours day and walking the corridor alongside the busy nurses you will see the occasional family pet paying a visit to their master or mistress.

In the kitchens, staff prepare to feed about 60 people a day, with home-cooked meals for staff, volunteers, patients and their families.

Despite popular belief, the hospice is not their final stop.

Alice Atkinson, director of communications, explained: “The average length of stay is 16 to 18 days. Occasionally we have patients stay a lot longer, or equally some come for just a few days.

“People often tend to think you come into the hospice to die. About half may die here but the other half go home. That is not to say they are cured, but they come in for rehabilitation or to help manage medicine then want to be cared for at home, which can support with our outreach work.

“It’s a misconception we want to overcome.

“It is not nice to talk about death, but the team and volunteers here make sure it is not depressing and our patients here enjoy the life they have.”

Just down the corridor there are two therapy rooms, physiotherapist and financial adviser, available to both patients and their families.

If you walked around the hospice today you might be greeted in its east wing by a large barrier. It masks the finals stage of the £1.2 million Building for the Future project revamp which will see improvements including seven inpatient bedrooms converted to en suites and new multi-use day room.

The rooms which are currently open overlook the Tranquillity Garden, which was transformed in 2007 by £100,000 of funding through a Bolton News campaign and is completely managed by volunteers.

Another relatively new addition is the prayer and reflection room with washing facilities.

Designed for a all faiths and none, it is located in a quite corner of the hospice overlooking Queens Park.

Miss Atkinson added: “It was something really important for us to put in. We work with anyone in our local community and it was important we provide a facility for everyone in the community.”

In 2001 a £1.5 million extension added a Day Therapy Unit for non-inpatients.

In addition to health care, the day time visitors enjoy social activities, including arts and crafts, pamper days and film sessions.

There’s even a resident poet and on-site hair salon!

Brian Monks was visiting for the first time after being treated for a long-term illness.

The 80-year-old from Farnworth said: “It’s just a good chance for a break for me. I remember it when it first opened and thought I would give it a try. It seems nice and friendly.”

The place seems to be constantly busy, with volunteers manning main desks and the onsite shop, to staff chatting away to patients.

Volunteer Elaine Wisedale, a former magistrate from Bradshaw, said: “I enjoy meeting people and talking to people. The hospice is so well supported and I think a lot of people know how much it means to Bolton.”

Paul Dickson, from Smithills, a volunteer since 2008, added: “I was a nurse before I retired and it gave me something to do. I just enjoy chatting to the patients who come in, I think every volunteer finds it very rewarding.”

Joyce Young, a service lead nurse, has worked at the hospice for five years. She said: “I remember working as a community nurse 25 year ago and the hospice opening. It is a fantastic place to have in Bolton.

“It is a fantastic place to work with so many professional people.

“It is a very happy place.”

To mark its 25th year Bolton Hospice is hosting a Silver Celebration Ball on March 3.