A CHARITY which provides hospice care for terminally ill children and their families has been given an office in the heart of the town centre.

Jessie May Children’s Hospice At Home has been helping families in Swindon and Wiltshire for 18 months without a local base of operations.

Fig Offices made the hospice their charity of the year and gifted one of the new offices in the revamped Tricentre 3 building.

It is hoped that this will help the charity grow in Swindon after it expanded from its Bristol headquarters last year.

The charity has already helped dozens of families across the county during their most difficult times.

Debbie Clark, Jessie May’s community fundraising officer for Swindon and Wiltshire, was thrilled with their new digs.

She said: “What a landmark it is to get Jessie May in the centre of Swindon, it’s brilliant.

“It’s a great opportunity to have a network space and an area to train our nurses, it’s a real centre of excellence.

“It’s great for our Bristol team because they can get the train and just walk right over to our office.

“The Mayor started the ball rolling on this, she’s incredible, she’s a star.”

Fig Offices held an open day on Thursday to show off their newly-refurbished offices and welcome Jessie May to the building.

The Mayor herself also popped by to congratulate the charity and have a look at their new office.

Mayor Penny said: “I’m so pleased that this is happening and that Fig is supporting local charities.

“I think it’s really important for them to do this so they can become embedded in Swindon’s business community.”

Garrick Hurter, operations manager at Fig Offices, explained

He said: “Jessie May are our first contract and they start on October 1.

“We’ve also had lots of interest in our conference rooms and offices from coach companies, consultancies, recruitment agencies, and large companies looking for satellite offices.

“We are in the best location for businesses, right next to the train station and near any new developments in the town centre.

“We want people to come in and see the space, discuss the requirements and how we can meet their needs.

“Clients can sign up and start work straight away and aren’t bound by specific a term of length which is really important.

“I think it’s really going to take off here.”

Jessie May volunteer Paul Bailey has helped spread the word and raise funds for the charity in Swindon.

He said: “It’s just been me and Debbie here for the past year and we’ve been struggling a bit but it’s going to get better now that we have a base in Swindon.”

Paul is hoping to organise a session with a pro snooker player at Jesters Snooker Hall since the charity is World Snooker’s official charity partner for the 2016/17 season.