A new wing at East Cheshire Hospice, entirely funded by the generosity of Proseal, has officially opened.

Known as ‘The Proseal Wing’, the extension at the charity’s site on Millbank Drive, Macclesfield, will act as a Co-ordinated Care Hub for its ‘Hospice @Home’ service and the new ‘Coordinated Care’ service, developed to help to guide both patients and their families through the complexity of end-of-life care.

Proseal is a long-standing supporter of fundraising group ‘What Women Want’ and the company’s £1m donation to the Hospice came via this link. ‘What Women Want’ has also provided additional funding for a car so that the ‘Hospice @Home’ team can visit patients at home as part of their on-going support.

‘Hospice @Home’ extends end-of-life care into people’s homes providing hands-on medical aid, psychological help, symptom management, and support after death.

The Proseal wing allows the Hospice to move into the next stage of the project, putting it at the centre of co-ordinating palliative care in the community and allowing more people to access the service, with specialist care if needed at the Hospice.

East Cheshire Hospice Chief Executive Karyn Johnston said: “We’re delighted and proud to be able to open this new building which provides such a valuable and significant resource to our community and is an essential part of our plans for the future. This has only been possible thanks to the generosity of Proseal’s co-founders Steve Malone and Rob Hargreaves, and we thank them sincerely.”

Steve and Robbie co-founded Proseal in 1998 and say the donation made in 2019 is on the behalf of all Proseal employees, whose hard work and dedication enabled them to make this important contribution.

They explained: “We have enjoyed immense success and growth in the 23 years since Proseal was established, and none of this could have been achieved without the fantastic support and commitment of everyone within the business.

“Proseal therefore wanted to give something back to the local community. We chose the Christie Cancer Centre and East Cheshire Hospice as the recipients because of the vital work they do, which any of us at Proseal, as well as our families and friends, may have to call on at some point.”

The building was officially opened by the Hospice President and former Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, David Briggs, who commented: “As Hospice President, I thank and salute each of the Proseal team whose hard work has created this building. You should each know that this will make a very real difference to the experience of end of life to literally thousands of people and their families.”

Proseal joined the JBT Corporation family in 2019, Proseal is a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-quality tray sealing machines. JBT is a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food processing industry, committed to delivering a service that surpasses customer expectations.

East Cheshire Hospice is the second lowest funded in the country, receiving 17 per cent of the income it needs to keep going from government. It costs £7,500 a day to provide palliative care for patients, their family and carers.