King Charles III will officially open a new hospice in Norfolk today, where patients each have their own garden.

Campaigners took four years to raise the £12.5m needed to replace the Priscilla Bacon Lodge on Unthank Road in Norwich with a new facility on an eight-acre site next to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital at Colney, on the outskirts of the city.

The appeal, launched in 2019, was backed by the EDP and its readers.

Eastern Daily Press: Priscilla Bacon Lodge welcomed its first patients last monthPriscilla Bacon Lodge welcomed its first patients last month (Image: Priscilla Bacon Lodge)The new site welcomed its first patients last month. It offers a state-of-the-art palliative care unit along with inpatient beds, a day unit and a wellbeing centre, while it will also act as a hub for community-based services, enabling people to also receive care in their own homes.

The King will spend time with patients receiving end-of-life care, alongside their families, as well as meeting the volunteers, nurses and other NHS staff based at the Hospice.

He will be welcomed by the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Lady Dannatt, before being introduced to Lady Bacon, patron of the Priscilla Bacon Hospice Charity, Robert Carter, chair of trustees, and chief executive Sandra Dinneen.

Eastern Daily Press: An aerial picture taken as the hospice neared completion shows its extensive groundsAn aerial picture taken as the hospice neared completion shows its extensive grounds (Image: Morgan Sindall)He will then visit the Lodge’s day unit, where he will hear from outpatients taking place in a breathing workshop led by medical staff and volunteers.

He will also will meet Agnes the therapy dog, before proceeding into the hospice’s therapy garden which sits at the heart of the Lodge.

The King will then be shown the therapy garden, which provides a great source of solace and comfort to patients and their families and hear from the garden's designer, James Alexander-Sinclair.

Eastern Daily Press: King Charles III will officially open the new Priscilla Bacon Lodge in Norwich todayKing Charles III will officially open the new Priscilla Bacon Lodge in Norwich today (Image: PA)He will also visit patients in their rooms and tour the hospice's chapel, before unveiling a plaque.

As Prince of Wales, the monarch previously visited the Hospice at its former site near the centre of Norwich in 2012.