Sue Ryder announces plans to sell Grade I manor house and gardens at Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough

A charity which provides hospice care is selling its former premises to help safeguard its future.

The original mansion house and gardens based alongside Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough will be put on the open market.

The charity operated from within the Grade I listed property until 2015 when a new purpose-built hospice was opened by the Duchess of Gloucester.

The original building is no longer needed and Sue Ryder has been working with planners, heritage experts and a property consultancy firm for the past two years to explore the options for its future.

They have now decided that the mansion house, lodge house and some agricultural land will be sold with profits being ploughed back into the charity.

Patients and families have been assured that the hospice will continue to run as normal.

Sue Ryder’s chief commercial officer Martin Wildsmith said: “Sue Ryder appreciates this is a building of historical importance. We are doing all we can as a healthcare charity to secure its positive future while ensuring inpatient care will continue from the site, so our care teams can be there when it matters for people at the end of their lives or living with grief.

“Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice’s inpatient unit remains a vibrant, vital service for the local community, which alongside our care in the community and bereavement services supports thousands of people.

“By seeking a more sustainable future for the mansion house and parts of the wider estate now, we can provide more of this care to more people in the future.”

The inpatient unit opened in 2015 following a decade of planning, two years of fundraising and 37 weeks of building work. It includes 20 en-suite bedrooms with direct access to the gardens.

Mr Wildsmith added: “The age and listed status of the Thorpe Hall mansion house is making maintaining the building and estate very challenging for our charity at a time when the cost of delivering our care is rising, and more people are needing our support.

“These pressures are sharply increasing which is why we must take action now, not only to preserve this unique building but to ensure our charity funds are not diverted away from those who depend on our care.”

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