The Duchess of Cambridge, who is the Royal Patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices, will visit the charity's Quidenham hospice for the first time later this month to see for herself why the nook appeal – which she helped launch in 2014 – is so vital.

The Duchess will tour the hospice on Tuesday, January 24 and meet with children, young people and families as they take part in an art therapy session and use equipment in the sensory room.

She will also spend time with the staff and volunteers who work at Quidenham in south Norfolk as they update The Duchess on the nook appeal and EACH's urgent need to raise funds.

The appeal aims to raise £10m for a new purpose-built hospice – which will be known as the nook - at a five-acre site in Framingham Earl.

EACH's current Norfolk hospice was opened in 1991 and, due to the increasing numbers of children with life-threatening conditions and complex healthcare needs visiting Quidenham, the hospice has now outgrown its current site.

The new hospice, closer to the centre of the county, will help to provide more families with the same facilities as those offered by the charity's hospices for Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk.

EACH Chief Executive Graham Butland said: 'We are very much looking forward to greeting Her Royal Highness once again, on what will be her first visit to our site in Quidenham.

'The Duchess will meet our fantastic staff and volunteers at Quidenham who work tirelessly with children and their families needing our services. They'll explain the difficulties they face as Quidenham has outgrown its home, and the huge difference a purpose-built modern hospice will make to the care they can provide to so many families.

'The nook appeal will transform children's palliative care across Norfolk and we are moving ever closer to the halfway mark of £5m.

'We still have some way to go before the new hospice can be built, though, and we need continued help from individuals, trusts and events, and as much corporate and community support as possible.'

Since becoming Royal Patron in 2012, the Duchess of Cambridge has played a vital role in raising awareness and understanding of children's hospice services across East Anglia and the rest of the UK.

She supported EACH last year by opening its shop in Holt and by attending a gala dinner at Houghton Hall, in addition to providing written messages of support on two separate occasions.

EACH provides care and support for more than 750 children, young people and family members across the region, with 346 currently using its Quidenham hospice.

To support the nook appeal visit www.each.org.uk/the-nook