IT MARKS an important step in realizing a new state-of-theart treatment centre dedicated to blood cancer patients in Southampton.

After four years, the Daily Echo-backed Red and White Appeal’s dream of building a new haematology day case unit has moved closer after the cutting of the first turf at site in Southampton General Hospital.

One of the fundraisers, Suzie Simmonds, from Southampton Hospital Charity, said: “This is a milestone of having reached enough money to start the work.”

But she said before work on the facility itself can begin an outstanding £250,000 of the appeal target of £1.7m needs to be smashed.

That is why the Daily Echo has joined forces with the Red and White Appeal to launch the Final Push campaign, urging people across the city and surrounding areas to pull together their spare change hanging round in homes, cars or offices to donate just £1 this month.

At the moment patients have to go to another area of the hospital and share facilities with patients suffering solid tumour cancers.

But with soaring numbers of patients, these clinics have become crowded.

This is bad news for blood cancer patients because their low immune systems place them at risk of infections that may jeopardise their recovery.

But with your help they can have a place of their own to battle blood cancer