A plaque has been unveiled at a hospice to mark 40 years of service.

St Catherine’s Hospice, near Pease Pottage, provides end of life care to people in-house at its new centre, as well as across West Sussex.

Now, the Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, has unveiled a plaque at the hospice celebrating its services to the community.

A plaque of the hospice’s 1983 logo will also be on display at Crawley Town Hall.

Giles Tomsett, chief executive at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “Crawley Borough Council has been and continues to be a valued friend and advocate of St Catherine’s Hospice.

“For over 40 years they have recognised the importance of providing end of life care to their community and have hosted the hospice at Malthouse Road since 1982.

READ MORE: Hospice forced to make job cuts amid financial crisis

“The wonderful communities of Crawley have shown generous loyalty to St Catherine’s over these many years, and we are extremely grateful for this continued support as we look to the next 40 years and more of St Catherine’s, now based only a couple of miles away at Pease Pottage.”

Leader of Crawley Borough Council, Councillor Michael Jones, said: “We are delighted to have been able to recognise the strong relationship that St Catherine’s Hospice has with us and the people of Crawley.

“It was an honour to see the new, modern facilities at St Catherine’s Hospice first-hand. While I was sad to see the hospice leave Malthouse Road, we are working with the hospice on the redevelopment of their old site, looking at extra care accommodation for local residents who need it.”

In recent months, the hospice has been forced to make job cuts to find £1.5 million in savings amid a national funding crisis.

At the time of the announcement, Mr Tomsett said: “It’s heart-breaking to have to reduce our team of highly skilled, specialist clinicians – some of whom have delivered expert support for many years and who all care so deeply about supporting families living with a terminal or life-limiting diagnosis and people coming towards the end of life.”