Liverpool baby hospice Zoe's Place has 24 hours to reach £6.4million target or risk closure

• Granada Reports journalist Zoe Muldoon spoke to families and staff at Zoe's Place

A specialist baby and young children's hospice has just 24 hours to go to raise the final funds it needs to keep operating or it may be forced to close for good.

Zoe's Place Baby Hospice in Liverpool needed to raise £6.4 million in just 30 days to secure their new home - a challenge championed by their local community.

Since launched the appeal the charity's JustGiving page saw donations from premier league footballers, celebrities and big businesses, but also saw pocket money pledges from local school children and coffee mornings.

As its deadline of the Saturday, 9 November looms, the hospice is tantalisingly close to their target, the pot currently stands just shy of £6 million.

Reaching its target mean children like Louis, four, who has a rare brain disorder and is prone to life-threatening seizures can continue to attend the "life-line" service, which his mum says provides her with much-needed support.

"If Zoe's Place closes tomorrow, I've got no help with Louis," Emma Gibbons said.

"I won't get that two days rest and some days, I literally cannot cope. I don't know where I find the energy to get through my day, but I do.

"It is such a warm place and it is a family – I call them angels."

Louise Kirkpatrick has worked as a sister at Zoe's Place for more than a decade and in September, she was faced with the threat of losing the job she loves.

But what worries her the most is the amount of families that rely on the baby and children's hospice.

Ms Kirkpatrick said: "When we got told the awful news, our instant thought was what are the families going to do?

"When they found out the news, they were thinking about us. We can't think about Zoe's Place not being there, it is unthinkable."

Isabelle has a number of health conditions, including Spina-bifida, and has been going to Zoe's Place for a few months.

Isabelle's mum Michelle Irvine says she "loves" going there. "The hospice is great. It helps her and I can get a break," she said.

She added: "We are in the early days, she hasn't come to the hospice very long as we only just found it.

"When I leave her, I have felt a little bit depressed because i've just thought who am I if I'm not a mum and a carer?

"But it gives me a peace of mind that she is okay and she is happy. She loves it."

Various fundraising efforts from people and businesses across the North West have helped the Hospice get in touching distance of the £6.4million needed to save it from closure.

A £2.5million pledge from local supermarket Home Bargains helped Zoe's place get closer to its target as well as sponsored walks and runs from communities and children across Cheshire and Merseyside.

Antony, 10, whose sister was cared for at Zoe's Place, ran more than 50miles and raised £10,000 for the hospice.

Antony's mum, Faye Maguire, said: "Amelia came here from about three-months-old right up until she was six-years-old and I've still always kept in touch with them. They are fantastic.

"If my world collapsed tomorrow, they would be there to pick me up. It's a lifeline for so many families across Merseyside."

Michelle Wright, Head of Care at Zoe's Place, said it was difficult for staff to keep their "emotions at bay" following the announcement that the hospice is at risk of permanent closure.

"It was devastating to try and keep our emotions at bay and to ring these families knowing what we provide and to tell that the service is probably not going to be available in the future.

"The families were absolutely devastated, there were tears from them and us and Liverpool as city just got behind us and it's just incredible to see where we are now.

"We know this city pulls together but this is just unimaginable really and beyond anything that we thought would happen."

Zoe's place have to reach their £6.4million target by Saturday 9 November.

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